The GCC’s assets under management (AuM) surged to $2.2 trillion in 2024, marking a 9% growth from 2023, according to Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) latest Global Asset Management Report: From Recovery to Reinvention. This milestone reflects the region’s expanding role in global finance, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE driving retail mutual fund growth, and Kuwait and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) managing the largest asset volumes.
Regional Leaders Driving Growth
Saudi Arabia and the UAE continue to lead in retail mutual funds, supported by strong market demand and diversified investment strategies. Meanwhile, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi dominate in SWF management, leveraging their scale for strategic global investments.
Lukasz Rey, Managing Director & Partner and Middle East Head of Financial Institutions at BCG, noted that this growth underscores the GCC’s rising prominence:
“The next decade’s leaders will be those who redefine their future, not just endure challenges… Saudi Arabia and the UAE anchor regional momentum, while SWF dominance signals the potential for local asset managers to rival global giants.”
Mohammad Khan, Managing Director & Partner at BCG, added:
“The GCC’s asset management industry has demonstrated remarkable resilience and strategic growth, achieving $2.2 trillion in Assets Under Management (AuM) in 2024. With Saudi Arabia and the UAE driving retail mutual fund expansion and Kuwait and Abu Dhabi leading in sovereign wealth fund dominance, the region is steadily establishing itself as a global financial powerhouse…”
Key Drivers and Opportunities:
The report attributes 2024’s revenue growth primarily to market performance, highlighting the industry’s sensitivity to external forces. Three global trends are shaping the future of asset management:
1-New Products for Changing Investor Demands
Asset managers have an opportunity to expand active exchange-traded funds (ETFs), model portfolios, and separately managed accounts. The retail private assets market—already over $300 billion—presents strong growth potential, though it requires simplified design, regulatory navigation, and better investor education.
2-Consolidation and Digital Transformation
Strategic partnerships and M&A are enabling firms to gain scale and boost technology capabilities. Larger asset managers can leverage operational synergies, while smaller players must adopt leaner, tech-driven models to remain competitive.
3-Cost Discipline with AI Integration
AI, including generative AI, is transforming front-to-back-office operations. From process automation to complex asset management, technology is enhancing efficiency, particularly for illiquid and alternative assets.
A Resilient Market Outlook
Nabil Saadallah, Managing Director & Partner at BCG, emphasized that consistent 9% growth across the GCC reflects a resilient market, where pension funds and SWFs are “quietly reshaping the region’s financial architecture.”
The growing focus on cost discipline, value creation, and advanced technology investment positions the GCC to strengthen its global standing.
With strategic diversification, technological adoption, and disciplined growth, the GCC asset management industry is poised to rival global leaders in the coming decade.
Edenred, a leading digital platform for services and specific purpose payments and the undisputed market leader in salary processing and financial inclusion for the underbanked in the UAE, continues to reinforce its leading position in payroll card solutions, value-added financial services, and compliance-first innovation under the leadership of newly appointed Managing Director Claudio Di Zanni.
As the first company authorised by the Central Bank of the UAE to process WPS salaries, Edenred UAE has long positioned financial inclusion as the foundation of its offer in UAE — ensuring that access to financial services isn’t an added benefit, but a guaranteed outcome of getting paid.
Trusted by both large enterprises and a growing base of SMEs, the backbone of the UAE economy, Edenred UAE now serves more than 15,000 corporate clients, 2.5 million cardholders, and partners with over 10 banks and 20 financial institutions. Demand has been strong in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, and facility management—where reliability and seamless execution are critical.
Edenred UAE salary cards, C3Pay, powered by RAKBANK and part of the Mastercard network, can be used globally. A key driver of Edenred’s adoption success is its unmatched expertise in on-site training at worker accommodations, which helps large enterprises efficiently onboard thousands of employees. This ensures that workers understand how to activate their cards, utilise app features, and engage with key financial tools.
Claudio Di Zanni, Managing Director, Edenred Middle East, said: “Edenred UAE has set the benchmark for payroll and financial access in the region with digital innovative solutions, great ambitions and internationally committed teams. Our ambition now is to extend that lead by deepening trust with our clients, scaling services that matter to end users, and ensuring full compliance in a fast-evolving regulatory landscape. With unmatched reach, an expanding client base, and a proven model for financial inclusion, we are ready to shape the next phase of the region’s salary card ecosystem — developing its full potential and contributing to giving workers who were previously excluded from the financial system a secure, transparent, and dignified way to manage their money.”
Edenred UAE remains the reference in payroll solutions, as it continues to scale high-impact services, deepen banking partnerships, and reinforce its role as the benchmark for secure, compliant, and ethical financial access in the UAE and beyond. With a sharpened focus on innovation and strengthened leadership, it is entering a new chapter of platform excellence as the backbone of financial access for the UAE’s workforce.
The 2026 mandate is an opportunity for businesses to align compliance with stronger data governance standards
With the UAE’s mandatory eInvoicing framework set to launch in 2026, Dhruva urges taxpayers to move beyond data residency considerations and focus on the critical issue of data sovereignty when selecting accredited service providers (ASPs).When adopting any cloud solution, it’s crucial to take the UAE National Cloud Security Policy into consideration, which provides a comprehensive checklist for cloud customers. This policy details necessary arrangements with cloud service providers, outlines contract requirements and sets cloud security requirements and enforcement measures.Dhruva is a leading tax advisory firm specializing in VAT, corporate tax, transfer pricing, and international taxation in the Middle East.
The eInvoicing rollout, based on the OpenPeppol five-corner model, will route all business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) invoices through ASPs that validate, exchange, and report tax-relevant data directly to the Federal Tax Authority (FTA). This shift makes the question of where data lives and who ultimately controls it – a matter of legal, operational, and financial consequence.
Commenting on the development, Nimish Goel, Partner and Head of GCC, Dhruva Consultants, said: “Businesses cannot afford to mix data residency with sovereignty. Hosting tax data within UAE data centres is necessary, but it does not, by itself, guarantee compliance or protection. True sovereignty means that encryption keys, administrative controls, and audit logs remain fully under UAE jurisdiction and cannot be accessed by foreign authorities. For taxpayers, this distinction is not technical—it is a fundamental risk-management decision.”
Dhruva highlights that this distinction is becoming urgent for three reasons. First, the UAE has enacted a robust Federal Data Protection Law (PDPL) and sector-specific rules that demand explicit safeguards on cross-border data flows. Second, with eInvoicing deadlines approaching, taxpayers must evaluate how each provider’s hosting model aligns with UAE data hosting requirements, sovereignty and National Cloud Security Policy laws. Finally, the operational reality is that migrating data and applications between clouds is not seamless. Factors such as data gravity, proprietary platforms, and audit trail integrity make switching providers slow, risky, and expensive.
“E-invoicing will not only redefine how businesses transact with government authorities, but also how they safeguard their most sensitive tax and financial records,” Goel added. “Companies need to recognise that the choice of ASP is a long-term strategic decision. The location of the cloud operator, the jurisdiction under which they fall, and the location of their control plane and encryption keys all impact compliance and data security far more than the physical location of the server rack.”
Dhruva advises taxpayers to approach ASP selection with a structured due-diligence process aligned with the policy for cloud customers in the UAE. This policy covers key domains such as governance, data location and sovereignty, interoperability, security incident and access management, data confidentiality, architecture and infrastructure companies should ensure that all storage, backups, and logs are held within UAE borders, that operational control and key management remain in UAE jurisdiction, and that providers comply with the UAE’s Peppol interoperability standard. Audit logs should be immutable, recovery sites must be located in the country, and exit strategies need to be documented and tested, with transparency on egress costs.
“Taxpayers cannot treat this as a simple IT procurement,” Goel emphasized. “It is a compliance and sovereignty choice that will determine their risk exposure for years to come. The time to ask these questions is now—before companies find themselves locked into providers that may not meet their future regulatory and operational needs.”
Attributed by: Nicholas Wright, Head of Institutional Sales, Saxo Bank
Dubai’s winning combination of UK-inspired regulation, investor-friendly tax policies, and a strategic time-zone advantage is propelling the city to the forefront of global wealth destinations, attracting a wave of new millionaires from traditional centres like London.
Its evolution from a regional trading outpost to a global financial centre has been one of the defining economic success stories of the past two decades. Once viewed primarily as a gateway to the Gulf, the city is now positioning itself as a trusted bridge between East and West, a place where capital, talent, and innovation converge.
This transformation is intentional, driven by a powerful combination of regulatory trust, tax advantages, and a strategic location. These combined “push-and-pull” forces are attracting a fresh wave of global investment and high-net-worth migration, solidifying Dubai’s role in the world’s financial architecture.
Building Global Confidence: Regulation that Mirrors London
A critical pillar of Dubai’s ascent has been the credibility of its regulatory ecosystem, anchored by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). The DFSA’s adoption of a UK-style, principles-based framework has created a familiar and trusted environment for international investors, particularly those from established markets such as London, Zurich, and Hong Kong.
By aligning with global standards set by IOSCO and Basel, the DFSA has helped ensure that Dubai’s financial regulations meet the expectations of international institutions. Importantly, the city’s common-law legal framework, applied through the DIFC Courts, offers predictability and transparency, qualities that distinguish Dubai from many emerging markets.
Aligning with internationally recognised best practices attracts global firms that value strong governance and reassures private investors that Dubai’s rapid growth is built on solid foundations. In doing so, it turns the city’s financial free zones, particularly DIFC, into a natural extension of the world’s major financial capitals.
Global Tax Shifts and the Migration of Wealth
While regulation provides the foundation of trust, global tax realignments are now accelerating Dubai’s growth. Across Europe and the UK, tightening fiscal regimes and increased scrutiny of offshore structures are prompting many high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and family offices to reassess their base of operations.
The UK’s reform of the long-standing Non-Domiciled (“Non-Dom”) tax regime, combined with higher tax rates and stricter reporting obligations, has diminished London’s appeal as a haven for global wealth. Resulting in a clear outflow of capital,the UK is forecast to lose around 16,500 millionaires in 2025, according to Henley & Partners, the largest net outflow recorded by any country in over a decade.
In contrast, Dubai has emerged as one of the world’s leading destinations for mobile wealth. Over the past decade, the number of millionaires residing in the city has doubled. According to The Rise of Dubai study, the emirate is home to 86,000 millionaires, 251 centi-millionaires, and 23 billionaires, as of June 2025.
This shift represents a classic case of push and pull: mature markets are tightening, while dynamic jurisdictions like Dubai combine transparency with competitiveness. The UAE’s own fiscal evolution, including the introduction of a federal corporate tax aligned with OECD standards, has enhanced credibility while preserving the hallmark advantages of no personal income tax and a stable, predictable business environment.
At the same time, Dubai’s establishment of family wealth centres, along with trust and foundation structures in the DIFC, is attracting international family offices that value both strong global compliance and flexible local regulations. The DIFC now accommodates over 120 family offices and more than 800 family-related entities, together managing an estimated US$1.2 trillion in assets.
Dubai’s Enduring Wealth Base and Private Banking Strength
Long before it became a magnet for global capital, Dubai was already a regional hub for private banking, buoyed by decades of oil wealth and the emergence of HNW and UHNW individuals across the Gulf. Historically, much of that wealth was parked offshore in jurisdictions such as Switzerland and London.
Today, that wealth is increasingly being repatriated and managed locally, as the DIFC and DFSA frameworks give investors confidence that their capital is governed under international standards. Making this city a magnet for new millionaires, surpassing other global hubs in attracting mobile wealth.
Population Growth and the Rise of the Mass Affluent
Dubai’s population surged past 4 million residents in 2025, up from around 1.9 million in 2011. This rapid demographic expansion, fueled by a strong influx of capital, added more than 223,000 new residents in just one year, marking the fastest growth rate in the city’s history.
A significant portion of this growth is concentrated within the affluent and mass-affluent segments, creating strong potential for the next generation of digital and hybrid wealth managers. As professionals, entrepreneurs, and global citizens increasingly choose Dubai as their base, the city’s financial ecosystem is expanding beyond traditional private banking into scalable, tech-enabled wealth management platforms.
The Next Chapter: Sustaining Momentum
As Dubai’s profile grows, so too does the need to maintain the balance between openness and oversight. The DFSA has already demonstrated its adaptability, from developing frameworks for digital assets and fintech innovation to integrating ESG principles into its supervisory approach.
Such responsiveness will be vital as global finance enters a new era shaped by digitalisation, sustainability, and shifting investor expectations. If Dubai can continue to combine rigorous regulation with pragmatic innovation, it will not only retain its current momentum but also strengthen its claim as the most trusted financial hub between London and Singapore.