Gaining ground: Dubai’s rise as a global hub for private capital
Dubai has solidified its position as a leading global hub for private wealth and private capital. Powered by robust infrastructure, investor-friendly reforms, and DIFC's thriving financial ecosystem, the city is attracting family offices, high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors seeking stability, innovation and new opportunities in private markets.
This article originally appeared in The Alternative Investor's September 2025 edition.
Salmaan Jaffery
Published: 12/09/2025
5 min read
The global financial landscape is entering a new era, one which demands a rethinking of traditional approaches to capital formation and investment. Private markets are redefining the rules of global investing and emerging as the new frontier for capital allocation.
This shift is not happening in isolation. Global private wealth, now exceeding USD 470trn, is increasingly mobile, scanning the globe for jurisdictions that offer stability and opportunity.
Dubai has emerged as the destination of choice for wealthy individuals, family offices and private capital investors. The emirate has the highest concentration of private wealth in any Middle Eastern city – it is home to 81,200 millionaires, 237 centimillionaires and 20 billionaires – which reflects its growing influence in global finance. This has helped to create the region's largest wealth and asset management cluster within DIFC – the only financial centre in the region operating at scale across all financial services sectors. Today, the Centre is home to 440 wealth and asset managers, including 85 hedge funds, 69 of which are larger than USD 1bn.
The latest report in DIFC’s flagship Future of Finance series titled ‘The Shift to Private Capital: The new private wealth hubs’ offers exclusive insights into the structural shift in capital formation, exploring the growing preference for private markets over public markets.
Public markets, once the backbone of global finance, are shrinking in size and influence, constrained by regulatory burdens and short-term pressures that stifle innovation. In contrast, private markets are gaining traction, offering uncorrelated, consistent, and often superior returns that appeal to a growing pool of investors, including wealthy individuals and family offices.
As Western economies face slower growth, emerging markets are stepping into the spotlight, powered by accelerated economic growth and bold investments in infrastructure and innovation. These regions, from the Gulf to East Asia, are rolling out investor-friendly reforms, creating the ideal environment for private capital to thrive. Against this backdrop, Dubai's ascent as a global hub for private capital is backed by its unique blend of developed market discipline and emerging market dynamism. With the region’s most proven legal and regulatory framework, enduring stability, world-class infrastructure, and commitment to innovation, Dubai continues to attract capital and talent from across the globe.
Another key factor impacting the reallocation of capital, is the ‘Great Wealth Transfer’, with USD 124trn expected to be passed down to the next generation. Younger investors are prioritising sustainability, innovation and impact-driven investments, and private markets align well with their priorities, offering opportunities for meaningful impact and superior returns.
The report further explores the evolving strategies of institutional investors, wealthy individuals, family offices, and wealth managers in adapting to the new financial landscape. It provides insights into thematic investing, the role of private markets in shaping innovation and resilience, and the importance of aligning long-term capital with strategic visions.
In conclusion, Dubai stands ready to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world, as it embraces the forces reshaping the future of finance. Its growing pool of deployable private wealth presents an unparalleled opportunity for the financial services industry. Supported by the institutional density and strategic infrastructure of DIFC, the region’s largest regulated financial services ecosystem, Dubai remains uniquely positioned to help global investors seize emerging opportunities.
Read the full report here.