The UAE has topped the global rankings as a magnet for migrating millionaires in recent years, and many have brought their family offices with them. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) now hosts more than 120 family office structures managing over US$1.2 trillion of wealth. The number of registered foundations – a favoured structure for managing family wealth – surged by 53% in Dubai in 2023, while Abu Dhabi recorded a 35% rise.
This growth has propelled the UAE into the top tier of international hubs for family offices, alongside Singapore, and in contention with New York and London. But it is not just the scale of activity that has been growing, argues Emilio Pera, deputy CEO for KPMG in the Middle East.
‘Accountants will shape the UAE’s competitiveness against the great wealth hubs’
‘We are seeing increasingly sophisticated family offices seeking credible sustainability reporting to meet investor expectations and access capital,’ Pera says. ‘The role of accountants is moving beyond traditional compliance to become strategic, multidisciplinary partners – a shift that will shape the UAE’s competitiveness against wealth hubs like London, Geneva and Singapore.’
Employment in Dubai’s financial sector has climbed by 66% since 2019, a reflection of the rapid expansion of firms providing legal, tax and accounting services. The institutional depth of the UAE’s financial services ecosystem now rivals that of older European centres, supporting the transition from entrepreneurial wealth to structured, multigenerational stewardship.
Governance for a new generation
‘We’re seeing family office creation and succession planning rising sharply as both local and expat founders look for stable governance structures to manage wealth transfer, philanthropy and the education of the next generation,’ Pera says. ‘In many cases, families are asking how to build long-term continuity, and that’s where proper governance frameworks – often designed with accountants – play a critical role.’
That generational shift is transforming what wealthy families expect from their advisers. ‘It’s about providing assurance, risk management and advisory support that help families preserve value across generations,’ Pera adds.
Both DIFC and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) have expanded their frameworks for licensing and regulating single-family offices. ‘Family office structuring, for example, has become a priority as clients look to manage multigenerational assets, enhance governance and ensure resilience in an evolving global environment,’ says Hadi Allawi, partner at Deloitte Middle East.
‘It’s about bridging local opportunity with global best practice’
He adds: ‘Professional services employees are working closely with clients on areas such as succession planning, family office structuring, tax efficiency and ESG reporting, bridging local opportunity with global best practice.’
The ESG imperative
The growing emphasis on sustainability is reshaping advisory mandates. ‘Both listed companies and increasingly sophisticated family offices are seeking credible sustainability reporting to meet investor expectations and to access capital,’ Pera says. ‘Families see that ESG data is now part of reputation risk and want it subject to the same discipline as financial statements.’
Allawi agrees that ESG (environmental, social and governance) has momentum. ‘Demand for ESG reporting and advisory is rising, not only to meet regulatory and stakeholder expectations but also to align family legacies with long-term impact,’ he says. A 2024 Deloitte survey found that 47% of Middle Eastern family offices are actively involved in sustainable investing, with a 107% increase in those investments anticipated over the next five years.
‘Accountants are becoming global architects for tax and succession planning’
Second-generation family leaders are driving much of the change. They want greater transparency around carbon exposure and social impact assessments and are asking accountants to build auditable systems for those metrics. ‘They are becoming global architects across all layers of the family businesses: designing multigenerational succession plans, advising on cross-border tax exposure and helping wealthy families align with new business environments and generational practices,’ says Matthieu Pinet, director at Deloitte Middle East.
The expansion of family office activity is also transforming the broader professional landscape. ‘Professional services firms shift from number-crunching to strategic counsel, blending blockchain audits, AI-driven reporting, governance advisory and technology and digital transformation,’ Pinet explains. The result is a new generation of accountants acting as embedded advisers, often coordinating between family boards, trustees and investment managers.
Evolving models of control
As wealth structures become more complex, families face a ‘make-or-buy’ decision: whether to build internal teams or outsource to professional advisers. ‘With cross-jurisdictional affairs and often multiple generations in the mix, they need help,’ says Jasleen Kaur, partner at Grant Thornton UAE. ‘Advisory firms provide the support – structuring wealth, ensuring compliance, supporting transactions and putting the right governance in place – so they can scale globally while thriving in the UAE.’
‘The next generation is pushing for professionalisation and governance’
Kaur says that demand has also diversified. ‘The first-generation founders and promoters are focused on preserving legacy and succession. The next generation is pushing for professionalisation, stronger governance, and with greater risk appetite, for growing wealth through diversification into deals. And almost everyone, including new-age entrepreneurs, is grappling with ESG and cross-border tax complexity.’
The hybrid approach is becoming the norm, with many family offices outsourcing assurance and ESG tasks to accountancy firms while retaining investment oversight in-house.
Two hubs, one ambition
Although Dubai remains the more visible magnet for new wealth, Abu Dhabi is catching up fast. ‘At this pace, the UAE could host more than 1,500 family offices by 2030, a number that would put it in the Geneva and Singapore league,’ Pinet says.
For accountants, this dual-hub model creates fresh opportunities in cross-border structuring and tax harmonisation. ‘In the UAE, demand is heavily focused on private wealth and capital market activities, including establishing family offices, managing funds, planning cross-border taxation for relocating individuals, ensuring ESG compliance for listed entities, and navigating the regulatory frameworks of DIFC and ADGM,’ Pera says.
‘Deep expertise in local regulation and family offices is a key differentiator’
The accountant’s advantage
The trillion-dollar scale of UAE family offices means those expectations will only grow. Pera believes that accountants’ core strengths position them at the centre of this growth. ‘Deep expertise in local common-law free-zone frameworks, foundations and family office structures has become a key differentiator, with clients increasingly preferring advisers who can combine this regulatory knowledge with cross-border tax, governance and investment-operating expertise,’ he says. ‘Accountants will remain central because they combine trust, transparency and technical rigour.’
With more than a trillion dollars now under family office management in the Gulf, the region’s wealth story is no longer about migration. It is about institutional maturity – and the professionals who are helping to sustain it.
