SMP Trustees opens office in Dubai
Wealth management firm SMP Trustees Limited, a unit of SMP Partners Group based in Isle of Man, has opened a representative office in Dubai.
The office is expected to have an impact of Dh70 million on the emirate’s economy over the next three years, senior a senior official.
Steve McGowan, Chairman of SMP Group, told Emirates 24l7 that the aim is to open a full-fledged office in Dubai International Finance Centre in the next one to two years to get closer to its clients.
SMP has employed 180 people in five countries, managing $5 billion assets of 3,000 clients.
The Dubai office, according to McGowan, will enable SMP Trustees to build on its existing relations with Dubai-based financial and professional firms and evaluate potential for a formal presence in future region-wide expansion.
“We have been dealing with companies here but they asked us to open an office here if you want more business, so now we have opened a rep office and plan to open full-fledged office in 1-2 years,” he added.
McGowan said the Dubai office is for relationship purposes only and will not undertake any financial services or regulated activity onshore in the UAE or the Dubai International Financial Centre.
Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI) paved the way for Isle of Man company to set up local representative office in the emirate.
Fahad Al Gergawi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai FDI, said the office has been opened following a partnership agreement signed between Dubai’s Department of Economic Department and the Isle of Man government in 2012 and a recent visit by a Dubai FDI delegation to the British Crown Dependency, known for its low-tax economy and offshore banking and financial services.
Al Gergawi said: “Services have emerged into a strong component of Dubai economy and the trend is here to stay with the emirate’s diversification strategy. The key sectors promoted by Dubai as drivers of sustainable economic development and the arrival of Expo 2020 will create stronger demand for globally trusted financial services.”
He said: “We consider it a major milestone that SMP Partners Group chose Dubai to grow further. It goes a long way in bringing world-class resources to Dubai and offers SMP Partners with the best links to a consumer market of over 2.2 billion spread across the Middle East, North and East Africa and South Asia.”
Steve McGowan, Chairman, SMP Group, called the Middle East one of the major staging posts for his company in further relationship expansion and said Dubai being the commercial hub in the GCC, SMP looked forward to working with the local government and the business community to develop and grow its presence in Dubai.