The UAE has emerged as a fast-expanding hub for family offices and Abu Dhabi, in particular, is flexing its muscles.

Raj Kumar and Kishin RK, the father and son who run a major property portfolio in Singapore, are setting up a family office in Abu Dhabi, Bloomberg reported. The duo is joining a list of people using the Gulf jurisdiction as a family office hub.

The entity – called RB Family Office – will be located in Abu Dhabi Global Market, Kishin said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

“We chose Abu Dhabi because it’s strategically located and has an internationally recognised legal framework,” Kishin was quoted as saying. “A family office in Abu Dhabi is a way to establish our presence and allows us to expand our investments in the UAE and the Middle East.”

The report said RB Family Office will be a first for the family, whose net worth has been estimated at around $3.15 billion. Kishin declined to say how much money the family office will manage. 

Abu Dhabi and neighbouring Dubai are competing to attract family offices. 

In August 2022, the Dubai International Financial Centre announced that it was launching a “global family business and private wealth centre." Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, has launched a capital club for family offices in the Gulf region. 

The UAE contains several jurisdictions, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi being the most prominent in terms of their financial clout. According to the HSBC Global Private Banking MENA Family Office Landscape Report, of 2024, 53 per cent of family offices surveyed were in the UAE, followed by 16 per cent in Saudi Arabia, 11 per cent in Lebanon, 7 per cent in Qatar, 5 per cent in Bahrain, 4 per cent in Egypt, and 4 per cent in Kuwait.

The newswire report noted how Abu Dhabi has emerged in recent years as a go-to hub for the world’s wealthy, attracting names such as hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio and Leon Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management Inc, both of whom have set up family office branches in the emirate. Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris has also said he plans to move his family’s investment firm to Abu Dhabi Global Market while Russian steel magnate Vladimir Lisin and India’s Adani family already have offices registered there.