The single biggest magnet for the world’s wealthy is the UAE’s dual-hub financial infrastructure in Dubai (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi (ADGM). Taken together they give high networth families three things no competitor can match: scale, depth, and a globally familiar rule-of-law framework.
DIFC: the region’s “capital of capital”
6,920 active firms at end-2024, up 25 % year-on-year after a record 1,823 new licences issued (mediaoffice.ae)
410 wealth & asset-management houses (75 hedge funds, 48 of them running US $1 bn-plus) and 260 banking & capital-markets institutions, giving residents local access to 27 of the world’s 29 G-SIBs (mediaoffice.ae)
Top 120 families already manage US $1.2 trillion in private wealth from the Centre, while the wider MEASA region puts US $3 trn in investable assets within a one-hour flight (mediaoffice.ae, difc.com)
2024 revenues hit AED 1.78 bn (US $484 m) and operating profit rose 55 %, proof the hub itself is highly profitable and reinvesting in fintech, AI and family-office services (mediaoffice.ae)
ADGM: Abu Dhabi’s turbo charged wealth park
245 % surge in assets under management in 2024 (after a 35 % jump in 2023) (adgm.com)
134 asset & fund managers running 166 funds; total authorised financial institutions climbed to 275, with names such as BlackRock, PGIM, Morgan Stanley and Lone Star arriving in the past year (adgm.com)
Jurisdiction now covers Al Reem Island, adding 1,100 more businesses and offering licencse-fee holidays to new entrants (adgm.com).
Global names are scaling up fast in UAE
St. James’s Place — UK wealth manager with £ 188.6 bn AUM opened in DIFC mid-2023 and is ramping from 20 to 55 advisers by end-2025 to serve its growing Gulf client base (fnlondon.com)
Goldman Sachs has shifted senior private-bankers from London and Hong Kong to Dubai to chase the wealth of 4,000 new millionaires expected to arrive in one year (arabianbusiness.com)
Santander, State Street, BlueCrest, Polen Capital and dozens of hedge-fund heavyweights also planted regional HQs in 2024–25, targeting an estimated US $8 tn pool of private wealth across the Middle East (arabianbusiness.com)
Why this matters for millionaires migrating to UAE
The UAE recorded net inflows of 6,700 HNWIs in 2024 which is the highest of any country globally, according to Henley & Partners’ latest Private Wealth Migration Report, with momentum still building for 2025 (henleyglobal.com)
Zero personal income, capital gains and inheritance taxes plus a light 9 % federal corporate taxwhich means new residents can legally save 30-40 % of gross income compared with the UK, France or most U.S. states.
DIFC and ADGM both follow English language common law frameworks and guarantee 100 % foreign ownership and dispute resolution familiar to global families and their advisers.
DIFC’s Family Wealth Centre and ADGM’s Foundations Regime let family offices consolidate assets, succession planning and philanthropy under one roof.
From billion dollar hedge funds to boutique family offices, the UAE’s financial free zones now deliver the entire private wealth value chain. It also provides legal, regulatory, custodial and lifestyle on a single and tax advantaged platform. In an era when HNWIs are voting with their feet, that combination is exactly why the Emirates keeps toping every millionaire migration league table.
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