Planning international expansion, several firms recently opened offices in the Middle East. Among the latest ones is Canaccord Wealth, a subsidiary of Canadian Bank Canaccord Genuity, which opened an office in Dubai.
The 35.2bn UK wealth manager and advisory firm has obtained a licence to operate from a new permanent hub in the Dubai International Financial Centre, it said in a statement. Senior executive officer, Richard Burden, will head up Canaccord Wealth’s new Dubai office, having recently located to the region. Chief executive officer David Esfandi said the Middle East is a target market for the wealth manager.
“I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the Middle East recently and from the early conversations I’m having, this move represents a massive opportunity for us – an opportunity that matches our ambitious growth plans,” he said.
Canaccord Wealth, a subsidiary of Canadian bank Canaccord Genuity, has been rapidly scaling up recently by snapping up a slew of UK-based advice businesses. It has now turned its attention to expanding its international footprint as it looks to win business from a growing number of British expats. It finalised a £51m acquisition from Brooks Macdonald’s international business in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man last month.
Also moving into the UAE is US-headquartered asset manager Barings with plans to bolster its presence in the Middle East with an office in Abu Dhabi before the end of the year. The $42bn fund group owned by US life insurer MassMutual is preparing to increase its presence in the region a year after it unveiled an office in Dubai.
“We are expanding in that region,” said Mike Freno, the firm’s chief executive and chair. A large proportion of clients in the Middle East are very sophisticated and are looking for partners who can manage dollars on their behalf.”
He added: “A lot of them have large amounts of money to put to work – often hundreds of millions of dollars.” A growing number of asset managers, banks and professional services have set up firms or grown their existing footprints in the Middle East in recent months. PGIM, the $1.3tn investment business of Prudential Financial, opened an office in Abu Dhabi in September. Fellow US-headquartered firm Nuveen, which manages $1.2tn, also expanded its presence in Abu Dhabi with a new office the same month.
Toronto-listed fund group Fiera Capital, opened an office in Abu Dhabi last year and have been planning to open another in Saudi Arabia as part of its expansion in the Middle East. The $166bn asset manager, specialises in global equities, emerging markets, real estate, infrastructure and natural capital.
“Abu Dhabi is not the last office we will have in the Middle East, said CEO, Klaus Schuster. In the next 18 to 24 months, we will have an office in Saudi. Fiera Capital wants to get closer to its clients in the region, which includes sovereign wealth funds, family offices, pension funds and listed corporates. It has around 140 employees across Emea.
“You need to be on the ground to understand the market.
The change in the Middle East over the past five to eight years is the biggest I’ve seen in my lifetime,” said Schuster. He added: “In the past, you could do business in Saudi without an office. But that is changing. If you want to be there and do business, you need an office there”.
The Middle East has become a focal point for some of the world’s largest financial services and legal firms. Rothschild &Co unveiled a Saudi Arabian outpost last year; it then announced in November that it had launched an office in Dubai to advise wealthy families in the Gulf emirate. Hogan Lovells, Simmons & Simmons and other international law firms have opened offices in Saudi Arabia.
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