First came the tacky influencers, broadcasting raucous yacht parties to their followers caught in pandemic lockdowns. Then came Russian wealth, from cash to crypto, looking for a home unbothered by pesky sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine.
Now Dubai’s latest well-heeled digital-nomad demographic is the wealthy Western hedge-funder, judging by a recent flow of talent from the likes of Millennium Management and ExodusPoint Capital Management, as the emirate and its neighbor Abu Dhabi court the rich and powerful with tax-free status, lighter regulation and an Asia-friendly time zone.
This may feel like “deja vu” for some — and perhaps out of whack with the hedge fund industry’s stagnant growth, poor performance and worsening environment for raising money last year — but there’s a good chance the Gulf is going to become a test case in the race for rich talent in a world dominated by geopolitics and war. It will also likely raise the hackles of tax authorities across the West at a time of stretched budgets.
Times have changed since Dubai’s last big push at being a global financial center, which turned out to basically be a speculative debt-fueled real-estate bubble built on sand. When I visited the emirate during the financial crisis days of 2009, I was struck by how many foreign investors had lost a small fortune flipping property. When the bubble burst, its less freewheeling neighbor, Abu Dhabi, tightened its grip with a bailout.
No comments:
Post a Comment