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Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has crossed the milestone of 100 registered hedge fund managers, cementing its position as one of the world’s top five hubs for the industry, the centre said in a statement.
The total number of hedge fund managers at DIFC has more than doubled from 50 at the start of 2024, with 81 of them managing assets of $1bn or more.
Recent entrants include Oak Hill Advisors, which manages $108 billion in assets, alongside AIP and Varenne, pushing the centre beyond the 100-manager mark.
They join established global firms already operating from DIFC, including BlackRock, Millennium, Balyasny, Brevan Howard, Blue Owl, Dymon Asia, Hudson Bay, Qube Research and Technologies and Verition.
During 2025, additional managers setting up in the centre included Baron Capital Management, BlueCrest Capital, Naya Capital Management, Nine Masts Capital, North Rock Capital, Pearl Diver Capital, Select Equity Group, Strategic Investment Group, Silver Point Capital, Squarepoint Capital and Welwing Capital Group.
DIFC said hedge fund managers are being drawn by its legal and regulatory framework, access to talent and ability to manage capital across Asian, European and US markets from a single base. Managers are also tapping capital from ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices and sovereign wealth funds in the region.
The DIFC Funds Centre supports fund managers
“Becoming a leading hedge funds centre reflects the maturity of the DIFC platform as well as the confidence of its participants,” Arif Amiri, chief executive officer of DIFC Authority, said in a statement. He added that client focus, industry partnerships and product innovation continue to drive growth.
As part of its push to attract asset managers, the centre has developed the DIFC Funds Centre, a co-working model designed to allow fund managers to establish operations quickly and scale efficiently. More than 85 per cent of hedge fund managers based in the centre are able to raise and manage private and sovereign capital from DIFC, it said.
Momentum in alternative investments is expected to continue. A recent report by the centre found that technological innovation, regulatory reforms and broader investor access are accelerating flows into alternatives, which are increasingly becoming core components of diversified portfolios.
Allocations by high-net-worth individuals and family offices have doubled since 2008 to about 15 per cent.
The centre’s wider wealth and asset management sector now includes more than 470 firms, supported by what DIFC describes as the Middle East’s highest concentration of private wealth.
More than 1,250 family-related business entities are based in the centre, while the UAE’s role as a global destination for wealth migration is adding to the ecosystem.
Consultancy Henley & Partners projects that 9,800 millionaires will have relocated to the UAE by the end of 2025.
Read: DIFC report highlights Dubai’s rise as a global hub for alternative investments
