“One space that has been growing very fast is the hedge fund sector,” Essa Kazim, governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre, said at a briefing on Monday. “The backlog for that industry is big and it’s growing and it’s one of the sources of our growth actually.”

The roughly 50 hedge funds looking to obtain a DIFC license jointly manage over USD 1trn worth of assets, according to Salmaan Jaffery, the hub’s chief business development officer. The DIFC, as the business hub is known, continues “to not only authorize them, but we continue to engage them globally,” he said, declining to name the funds and how many currently operate within the center.

Dubai is emerging as a favored destination for hedge fund traders who are drawn by its ease of doing business, tax-free status and its allure as a global travel hub. It is also a more friendly time zone for portfolio managers who have global investments spanning North America to Asia. 

Izzy Englander’s Millennium has grown its staff in the city to about 30 since securing a license in 2020. ExodusPoint Capital, one of the largest multi-strategy hedge funds in the world, registered in the DIFC in June.