Hedge Fund Traders Are Pushing Their Firms Into Dubai and Abu Dhabi
The rush of hedge funds heading to the UAE has been driven by the need to keep star traders happy. Escalating conflict in the region hasn’t deterred them so far.
Dubai is home to more than 75 hedge funds, up from 10 or so a decade ago.
Photographer: Natalie Naccache/BloombergIn late 2023 hedge fund veteran Danny Yong lost out on a coveted trader he was trying to hire. Not because this person didn’t want to work for his firm. He was just desperate to move to a rival city.
Yong’s Dymon Asia Capital is based in Singapore, as was the trader. Yet it was a competing firm with a Dubai office that won him over. Within weeks the rejected Dymon co-founder made the call: If the talent’s headed to the desert, so are we. His firm opened in Dubai in October, has signed a lease for much bigger digs and aims to have 10 portfolio managers there by year end.