The development highlights how Dubai, along with rival centres such as Abu Dhabi, are pushing their credentials as wealth hubs.

Nomura, the Japanese financial group, has expanded its international wealth arm by taking up residence in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

In 2022, the firm said it would open a branch of Nomura Singapore Limited in DIFC. It has since obtained a Category 4 licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). 

The international wealth business mainly focuses on high net worth individuals, single-family offices, and external asset managers in the UAE and broader Middle East region, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), North Africa and Levant countries, Nomura said in a statement yesterday. 

The development highlights how Dubai, along with rival centres such as Abu Dhabi, are pushing their credentials as wealth hubs. For example, a few weeks ago, Edmond de Rothschild, the French-Swiss private banking group, opened an advisory office in the DIFC. In October last year Switzerland-based Habib Bank AG Zurich (HBZ), set up a new branch in the DIFC. 

The move means that Nomura is joining more than 300 wealth and asset management firms in the DIFC ecosystem, collectively overseeing $500 billion of assets under management.

“Our on-the-ground presence here will help us better tap into the vast pools of wealth in this region, to complement our strategy of serving clients across Greater China and Southeast Asia as well as the global NRI [non-resident Indian client] segment,” Ravi Raju, head of International Wealth Management, Nomura, said.

In August last year, DIFC launched a “global family business and private wealth centre,” highlighting how the Middle East jurisdiction is targeting family businesses as a client segment. This news service recently spoke to the CEO of the DIFC Authority about its strategy.