Government of Dubai Media Office – September 8, 2025: According to a new report, ‘Shift to Private Capital’, Dubai has emerged as the leading global hub in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA).
As part of the latest edition of its flagship Future of Finance report series, it stresses the extent to which rapid growth and globalisation of private wealth are reshaping financial markets and advancing Dubai as a destination of choice for high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and private capital investors.
Global shift to private wealth
The report hints at the balance of global finance tilting towards private markets, with trends pinpointing that private market assets are poised to exceed $30 trillion by 2030 as investors look for more reliable, higher-yielding opportunities.
In the same vein, global private wealth has reached a record $471 trillion, witnessing growth of more than $340 trillion since 1995, considered a rate eight times faster than the expansion of public wealth over the same period.
A defining feature of this new era is the $124 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer set to take place in the next two decades.
Dubai’s private wealth advantage
Dubai has emerged as the region’s leading global hub for private wealth by offering the institutional strength of established markets with the dynamism of emerging ones. In 2025, the city climbed to 12th place in the Global Financial Centres Index, recognised alongside London, New York, and Paris for its broad and deep financial capabilities.
DIFC is central to this growth set against the context of H1 2025, it is home to 7,700 active companies, accounting for 25 percent year-on-year increase. The ecosystem now includes over 440 wealth and asset managers, 85 hedge funds, a strong cluster of private equity and venture capital firms, and 1,035 family-related businesses.
The Centre is home to a significant portfolio of companies that have chosen DIFC and Dubai as their regional home to support the growth of private markets. These include Alarabi Investments, Baron Capital, BECO Capital, Cambridge Associates, CdR Capital Levent Capital, Hayfin, Middle East Venture Partners, Morningstar, Naya Capital, Pearl Diver Capital, PIMCO, Squarepoint Capital, Silver Point Capital, and TVM Capital.
Chief Business Development Office Salmaan Jaffery, at DIFC Authority commented: “The shift to private wealth is one of the most powerful forces shaping global finance today. DIFC is proud to be positioning Dubai at the forefront of this tilt shift, offering global investors a secure, innovative gateway to USD 8trn of regional wealth and a trusted platform to preserve and grow wealth across generations.”
The ‘Future of Finance: Shift to Private Capital’ report underlines how Dubai is not only keeping pace with the transformation of global markets but actively shaping them.
