A number of banks and wealth managers have recently set up shop in the Gulf.  

UK-headquartered Novia Global, an international investment platform, is establishing an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) now that it has received a licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).    

As part of the Novia Global expansion, Mark Maplesden will be joining Novia Global as its principle representative officer, the firm said in a statement. He has worked in the wealth management sector in the UAE for over 10 years and will draw on his experience of the region to lead the initiative.  

“Dubai’s economic and investment landscape are impossible to ignore. There are over a thousand financial companies in the DIFC, while Dubai is home to over $950 billion in private wealth and [is] set to attract many more high net worth individuals,” Novia Global CEO Steve Andrews said. “A growing number of advisors and clients want to be a part of this success story, and we see an on-the-ground presence as essential to our own role in helping make that possible.”  

“The Novia Global platform is innovative, transparent, and designed to provide advisors with a solution to match their clients’ evolving expectations which will ultimately help them to deliver good client outcomes,” Maplesden said. 

Recently, Novia Global launched its own stocks and shares ISA to address the issue of expats’ savings being left in “suspended animation.”  

Amongst others, Hawksford, a corporate, private client and fund services provider, recently opened its new office in Dubai. See more commentary here.

Novia Global, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), was founded 2015 to meet the needs of internationally mobile clients, nationals who move abroad, and trustees requiring greater investment choice.