International hedge funds managers have become the latest group of investors to use Dubai as a business hub, lured by the emirate’s tax-free lifestyle and less stringent approach to Covid.
Izzy Englander’s Millennium Management, Michael Gelband’s ExodusPoint Capital Management, All Blue Capital, and Michael Platt’s private investment firm BlueCrest Capital Management have been hiring and moving staff to the Gulf region’s pre-eminent finance center.
Besides lower taxes and year-round sunshine (albeit with temperatures soaring to 50° Celsius in the summer), Brexit has also spurred many funds to seek new bases outside the City of London, while some fled Hong Kong’s strict Covid restrictions. Dubai offers them an array of incentives, including reduced licensing fees and capital requirements. A team from the business hub also recently completed a roadshow in San Francisco and New York to attract more firms.
“We are in a unique situation where the classic financial centers are disintegrating,” said Tom Kirchmaier, professor at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
It isn’t the first time, however, that Dubai has attempted to attract hedge fund managers. In 2008, many predicted a regional hedge fund boom but that ultimately failed to materialize as the financial crisis took its toll on the industry.
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