Dubai Is Not Just Attracting Wealth. It Is Anchoring It.
Dubai’s private wealth ecosystem is moving beyond rapid growth into long term institutional depth. With DIFC assets reaching US$700 billion and foundation registrations accelerating, international families are increasingly using the UAE as a structuring hub rather than simply a capital destination.
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As tax authorities in the United States and United Kingdom tighten scrutiny of offshore wealth, internationally mobile families are reassessing how and where they structure their assets. In the Gulf, Dubai is increasingly being used not only as a destination for capital, but as a place to formalise it. With Ramadan, a period often associated with reflection and longer term planning in the region, advisers say succession and governance discussions might intensify.
A City Still Growing Fast
Dubai’s wealth ecosystem is deepening, not just expanding.
Dubai’s economic momentum continues to outpace much of the Gulf. GDP rose 4.7 per cent in the first nine months of 2025, reaching AED 355 billion, or $96.7 billion. Tourism hit a record 19.59 million international visitors, up 5 per cent on 2024, while real estate, finance and logistics maintained strong demand. Projections for 2026 suggest further growth of around 4.5 per cent, supported by the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and large scale infrastructure projects including the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport, Etihad Rail passenger services and the planned introduction of flying taxis.
Yet this is not only about economic momentum. It reflects a deeper shift in how wealth is being structured and retained in the emirate.
Faster Than Europe
Dubai’s private wealth growth is striking when set against Europe. Although much smaller in absolute size, the DIFC reported assets under management rising 58 per cent from US$444 billion to US$700 billion by mid 2024. The city is now home to an estimated 72,500 millionaires. By comparison, Switzerland, the world’s largest cross border private banking hub with roughly US$2.5 trillion in such assets, recorded growth of around 4 to 6 per cent in 2023 and 2024.
Wealth That Stays
Rather than simply expanding, Dubai’s wealth base appears to be settling into more formal structures. Assets are increasingly consolidated into regulated vehicles, succession planning is being addressed earlier, and family offices are establishing longer term bases. The rise in foundation registrations, alongside growth in assets under management and millionaire residents, suggests capital that is not only arriving in Dubai but embedding itself there.
848 Foundations in a Single Year
Launched in 2018, the DIFC Foundation regime provides regional and international families with a common law vehicle for structuring wealth. It is designed to support succession planning, asset protection and the consolidation of family holdings, while offering a framework for long term governance across generations.
Yann Mrazek – Managing Partner. M/HQ says, “As of January 2026, more than 2,220 foundations have been established across the UAE, following the introduction of the regime in 2017 and 2018. While early uptake was modest, the structure moved into the mainstream in 2023. A total of 848 foundations were registered in 2025 alone (497 in 2024).” Projections from Mrazek suggest that figure could rise to around 1,100 in 2026. The market use is attributed to multi-family offices and international companies opening headquarters.
Not Just About Sharia
Many assume foundations are primarily driven by Sharia inheritance requirements. The data indicates that is only part of the picture, with families combining Islamic principles and common law vehicles in practice.
Mrazek said, “Amongst Foundations users, our internal statistics indicate that about 50% are of Muslim faith but only under 10% of such Muslim Foundation users strictly follow shariah succession. These numbers have been steady over the years.”
A Tool for Bigger Fortunes
While the number of foundations remains modest relative to the scale of the wider economy, their growth is meaningful. Foundations are governance vehicles rather than retail products. They are typically established where wealth is substantial, cross border or generationally complex. A relatively small number of such structures can therefore represent significant concentrations of capital.
Their increasing use suggests not simply an inflow of affluent residents, but a shift in how larger fortunes are being organised. That behavioural change at the upper end of the market can have an outsized influence on the development of a financial centre’s advisory, legal and fiduciary infrastructure. In that sense, foundations function less as a volume indicator and more as a barometer of confidence in the jurisdiction’s long term legal framework.
Where Faith Meets Regulation
Jade fellowes, Client Services Director and Head of Intermediaries, Suntera Global said, “Dubai’s recent reforms give international families greater clarity around inheritance and the ability to apply foreign law which is a welcome development. From a trustee standpoint, though, long term wealth planning still tends to rely on low tax jurisdictions with established trust frameworks. The Crown Dependencies offer precisely that. In practice, Dubai’s reforms complement rather than replace these offshore frameworks. For many families, UAE arrangements provide helpful local solutions, while IOM, Jersey and Guernsey trusts continue to serve as the durable backbone for cross border succession and asset protection.”
Fellowes said “Muslims always have to reflect on faith vs the law of the jurisdiction as in UK for example there has to be a compromise: you can buy a home in England with a Sharia compliant loan yet lenders require buildings insurance which is prohibited for conservative Muslims and the Takaful Sharia compliant insurance market as an Islamic alternative is not developed yet.”
Takaful is a Sharia-compliant, cooperative form of insurance based on mutual assistance (ta’awun), where participants contribute to a shared pool to indemnify each other against risks, rather than transferring risk to an insurer. It operates without interest (riba), gambling (maisir), or excessive uncertainty (gharar), with funds invested in ethical, Sharia-compliant assets.
Private Jets and Other Signals
Tim Barber at Duncan Aviation offers another Middle Eastern growth stat. “The global jet business is dominated by North America at 67%, Europe at 12% and the Middle East at 1%. However the business aviation (bizav) market in the Middle East is forecast to grow by 8% per year over the next 5+ years attributed to increased infrastructure and The UAE is gaining ground with more UHNW there; local visions like the Saudi Vision 2030 and more sustainable travel with Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) technology, expected to launch in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as early as 2025–2026.
The Digital Assets Generation – tokenised investments and Web3
Charlotte Hill, Partner, Dispute Resolution, Penningtons Manches Cooper said, “As the UAE cements itself as a global hub for robust, future proof wealth structuring, we are increasingly seeing next generation families – particularly those active in digital assets – gravitate toward the region’s foundation regimes as a cornerstone of their long term planning. The combination of regulatory stability, free zone courts, and a maturing professional ecosystem give families confidence that their structures can weather geopolitical and compliance related pressures.”
Hill said, “Foundations offer an elegant mechanism to separate personal wealth from operating businesses, ring fence digital and traditional assets, and embed governance and succession frameworks that balance continuity with practical control. For digitally native wealth creators, the ability to hold tokenised investments and Web3 operating interests within a structure that preserves privacy, enhances bankability, and supports multi generational stewardship is proving especially attractive – transforming the UAE from a peripheral option into a central pillar of global family wealth planning.”
One Jurisdiction Is No Longer Enough
Andrew Horbury, Founder and CEO of the Cavenwell Group said. “What is increasingly clear is that international clients are now evaluating DIFC and ADGM on a truly global basis. Foundation and family office structures in the UAE are no longer the preserve of UAE-resident, GCC or even Muslim families, but are being used by globally diversified families seeking a credible, internationally recognisable structuring hub.”
“Effective wealth planning is rarely achieved through reliance on a single jurisdiction. As family offices increasingly base themselves in the UAE and principals relocate here, the structuring ‘hub’ is naturally forming in DIFC and ADGM. From there, families are diversifying asset domicile through a hub-and-spoke model, combining UAE foundations, family offices and holding structures with asset-holding and trust arrangements in other long-established IFCs such as Jersey. In that context, the question is whether the overall structure is resilient, diversified and capable of responding to change across global assets, international families and an ever-evolving tax and regulatory landscape.”
Tim Searle, Founder, HNWTAX, said “the UAE continues to grab the limelight as an attractive and stable jurisdiction for various reasons including lifestyle. Tax authorities in the US and UK have tightened scrutiny of offshore structures in recent years. As a result, simply establishing a trust or offshore company is no longer sufficient to shield assets from tax exposure or regulatory attention. Families with assets across multiple jurisdictions now require more complex and carefully coordinated cross border planning.”
Why Disputes Are Rising
Jacopo Crivellaro is of counsel, Baker & McKenzie. “We are seeing the UAE increasingly used as a jurisdiction of choice for sophisticated structuring, not only for inbound wealth, such as non UAE investors deploying capital into UAE real estate or new residents relocating to the region, but also for regional and international wealth. Families from Africa, Central Asia, and South and South East Asia are increasingly using the UAE as a long term hub rather than a transactional stop.”
“Within that context, foundations are emerging as a key structuring vehicle because they offer clarity of purpose, good governance, and durability across generations. They are often combined with single family offices. Together, these structures allow families to separate personal wealth from operating businesses, support long term stewardship, and manage succession in a way that is resilient to regulatory and geopolitical change.”
“The growing body of litigation and high value disputes connected to family wealth in the region typically reflects the same drivers seen globally: succession issues, governance failures, and unclear separation between family, ownership, and management. This has further reinforced the appeal of well designed foundations and family office structures as preventative tools rather than reactive solutions”
The Real Test: Durability
Dubai’s recent legal reforms are increasingly relevant for private wealth structures that rely on trusts holding substantial assets, particularly real estate and operating businesses. Changes to personal status law, the expansion of local wills regimes and the strengthening of the DIFC Courts are designed to offer greater certainty for international families seeking alternatives to default Sharia succession outcomes.
However, while advisers are actively using these frameworks in planning, they remain relatively new and untested when set against centuries of British trust law and probate practice. For families and trustees, the key issue is not innovation but durability: how these Dubai-based trust and succession structures will perform over time, under pressure, and in dispute, when significant assets and competing claims are at stake.
Yet practitioners argue that formal governance, even within a developing regime, is preferable to informal arrangements that have historically led to precisely the disputes now emerging. In that sense, the choice for many families is not between perfection and uncertainty, but between structure and avoidable conflict.
UAE in the Global Context
Emerging International Wealth Hub
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Population: 11–12 million
DIFC reports US$700 billion in total assets under management across licensed firms, including private and institutional capital
Positioning as a growing cross-border private wealth hub
Dubai (Emirate within UAE)
Population: 4 million /DIFC reports US$700 billion
Primary private wealth and structuring centre via DIFC
Abu Dhabi (Emirate within UAE)
Population: 4 million (no available figures)
Home to ADGM, a growing competing financial centre
Primarily Domestic Wealth Market
Saudi Arabia
Population: 36 million
Total private wealth estimated at approximately US$1.5–2 trillion
Private wealth management industry largely domestic
Not currently a major international cross-border private wealth booking centre
Established International Cross-Border Private Wealth Centres
Switzerland
Population: 9 million
International private client assets managed through Swiss institutions: US$2.1–2.5 trillion
United Kingdom
Population: 70 million
International private client assets managed through UK institutions: US$2 trillion
United States
Population: 333 million
Total private wealth: US$140+ trillion
Largest domestic private wealth management market globally, primarily domestic rather than a traditional cross-border booking hub
Singapore
Population: 6 million
International private client assets managed through Singapore institutions: US$700–800 billion
Citywealth Top 30 Middle Eastern Advisers and Managers 2026
Lawyers
Emily Beirne, Lawyer, Kobre & Kim
Litigation specialist focused on cross border asset tracing, enforcement and high value private wealth disputes.
Jacopo Crivellaro, Of Counsel, Baker & McKenzie
Advises on sophisticated cross border wealth structuring and private client disputes, including foundations and high value succession litigation.
Jordan Ellis, Partner, Stephenson Harwood
Advises on international private wealth structuring, estate planning and regulatory aspects of cross border family wealth.
Patrick Gearon, Head of Middle East, Charles Russell Speechlys
Leads regional legal advisory on international private wealth, trusts, foundations and cross border estate planning.
Rebecca Goldring, Senior Associate, Trowers & Hamlins
Private wealth lawyer advising families on trusts, foundations and cross border succession planning in the Middle East.
Philip Ireland, Joint Managing Partner, Maples Group
Senior leader within a global offshore law firm advising on complex international structuring and investment vehicles.
Dipali Maldonado, Partner, Al Tamimi & Company
Private client specialist advising on family business governance and succession frameworks.
David Russell KC, Barrister, Outer Temple Chambers
King’s Counsel specialising in international trusts, cross border estate disputes and complex private wealth litigation.
Sunita Singh-Dalal, Partner, Private Wealth Law, Hourani & Partners
Advises high net worth families on cross border succession planning and DIFC and ADGM foundations.
Accountants and Tax Advisers
Dr Naveed Ahmed, Founder and Principal, Imani Wealth Management Ltd
Independent adviser with accounting and financial planning expertise serving high net worth families across the Middle East and South Asia.
Joe David, CEO and Founder, Nephos Group
Specialist digital assets accountant advising crypto founders, Web3 entrepreneurs and high net worth investors on tax structuring and compliance.
Tim Searle, Founder, HNW Tax
International tax adviser focused on complex cross border exposure for globally mobile high net worth individuals.
Wealth Managers and Private Bankers
Patrick Albrecht, Executive Director, Mirabaud Group
Advises regional family offices and entrepreneurs on tailored investment strategies and multi asset wealth management mandates.
Ahmad Chahidi, Senior Wealth Planner and Managing Director, UBP
Senior private banker advising ultra high net worth clients on portfolio construction and international structuring solutions.
Daniel Dickinson, International CEO, Titan Wealth
Leads international expansion of a global wealth management platform, including strategic growth across the Middle East.
Siddharth Dutta, Managing Director and Country Head, Waterfield Advisors Limited DIFC
Heads a DIFC based multi family office advising globally diversified families on asset allocation and governance.
Laura Fuss, Director, Private Banking, Mirabaud Group
Senior private banker serving ultra high net worth clients with discretionary portfolio management and cross border investment solutions.
Julien Tizot, Chief Investment Officer, Aras Limited
Oversees investment strategy and asset allocation for high net worth portfolios with a focus on capital preservation.
Fiduciary and Structuring Specialists
Andrew Cavenwell, Founder and Group CEO, Cavenwell Group
Leads a multi jurisdictional fiduciary group advising on hub and spoke structuring models linking the UAE with established offshore finance centres.
Hermione Harrison, Partner and Head of Abu Dhabi, M/HQ
Leads ADGM based foundation and family office structuring for internationally mobile principals.
Alia Haskouri, Director and Head of UAE, JTC Group
Oversees UAE operations for a global corporate and fiduciary services provider active in private client structuring.
Leevyn Isabel, Commercial Director, Middle East, Ocorian
Drives regional expansion for a global fiduciary services provider supporting corporate, fund and private client structures.
Leonie Kerswill, Managing Director, Sanctuary
Advises internationally mobile clients on wealth structuring and cross border asset planning.
Yann Mrazek, Founder, M/HQ
One of the architects of the UAE foundations advisory market, advising families on governance and intergenerational planning. He notes that “M/HQ is capturing a large share of the foundation structuring market. Together with PwC, we are among the leading advisers in pure domestic planning.”
Richard Smith, Managing Director, Charterhouse Lombard
Senior adviser within an international fiduciary services group supporting cross border private wealth arrangements.
Christopher Somers, Senior Partner, GSB
Governance and fiduciary specialist advising family offices on regulatory structuring and cross border corporate frameworks.
Nathan Taylor, Director, Cavenwell Group
Advises ultra high net worth families on UAE foundation structures and international wealth consolidation strategies.
Alison Whatnall, Founding Partner and Group CEO, GSB
Co founded a governance and fiduciary advisory firm serving international private clients and structuring mandates.
Jonathan Wheeler, Head of Middle East, Equiom Group
Leads regional operations for a global trust and fiduciary services provider with expanding structuring activity in the UAE.
Kath Zagatti, Lead Partner, Legacy and Family Office, M/HQ
Heads legacy and family office advisory, focusing on governance design and the integration of foundations into long term family planning.
Jade Fellowes’ Citywealth Leaders List profile
Suntera Global’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Charlotte Hill’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Penningtons Manches Cooper’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Andrew Horbury’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Cavenwell Group’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Tim Searle’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
HNWTAX’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Jacopo Crivellaro’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
Baker McKenzie’s Citywealth Leaders List profile
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