Destination Abu Dhabi: A Haven for Family Offices

[Music] welcome to everybody for taking thank you for taking the time to attend this session thank you de your panelists your Excellency your Excellency uh today we're going to be unraveling the reasons behind Abu dhabi's magnetic appeal which seems to be a theme that's prevalent through a lot of the conversations that we're having today both on stage and offstage um I'd like to just ask the panelists to introduce themselves quickly please for the benefit of the audience I'm the executive director of ababi residence office Ali I'm executive director at registration Authority in adgm M treasure ababi chamber good morning my name is Gavin Rankin I'm the chief investment officer for adcp and the SEO of adcp asset management bed to AG thank you gentlemen and Nella for being here H your Excellency M if we could thank you if we could just start with you in your opinion what are the unique aspects of Abu dhabi's business landscape that make it particularly attractive for family offices and family businesses uh thank you as um first of all I'd like to say that you know ababi is not just the capital of capital as we know it Abu Dhabi is the capital of leadership capital of human capital and you know we're blessed to have some of the most Progressive Forward Thinking leaderships here catapulting us towards the 22nd century and I'd like to thank everyone here it's because of you ababi is what it is abui is the capital of people and you know the leadership trickles down to all our colleagues here in the ecosystem from the uh the uh colleagues at adgm uh the deed and the Chamber of Commerce and everyone really supporting the Abu Dhabi ecosystem in order to make it an enabler for family businesses to succeed to thrive um Abu Dhabi is of course on the Forefront of of of being um you know the ideal place for businesses to start um it's a leading uh global economic player in terms of uh Financial regulations in terms of setting up we have today we're sitting in ababi global markets you have the option to set up as um a free uh uh as a free zone company here with common law so it's a language people understand from all over the world and also you know set up amongst leading um organizations leading uh family offices from all over the world um and I I have to say also it's it's also about working together the collaboration we've seen in Abu Gabi is what makes it you know we see today family officers working with all the um Sovereign wealth funds working with the big corporations investing together sometimes uh looking and creating new opportunities so um I think you know going forward uh we we expect to see a lot more success stories coming from uh yes thank you and can you tell us a little bit about the role that the chamber plays in creating this conducive environment yeah so the chamber chamber of commerce you know when I first joined the Chamber of Commerce I was um surprised to find that the enablement of family businesses was actually is actually embedded within the corporate corporate governance structures of the chamber so it is the duty of the Chamber of Commerce to support family businesses we see um you know a lot of working groups uh looking at the problems that uh family businesses face looking at the problems corporate pH and really trying to address them you know as Chambers where uh advocators we work with policy makers in order to address uh any issues that arise with corporations um we also do a lot of studies with um Consultants to support family businesses um we are a networker so we bring family business together we uh we try to create success stories and we try to um you create opportunities for those family businesses excellent and we've also your Excellency we've heard from the livability side of Abu Dhabi I've heard Rachel speak about being here for 16 years I've been here for six months and I think it's the same experience which is the appeal of the family life and the General Life in Abu Dhabi um if you could please let let us know what the ababi residents office does to create this environment this all-inclusive environment that makes it so appealing uh so first of all um ababi residence office established almost two years and a half uh and the Mandate of ABAB residance office is to attract to retain and to engage residents or experts who wants to move to ababi um to attract um um family offices or any signals from residents who wants to be a part of this ecosystem there are a number of promises we've been promised to them uh to make ababi unique for them um there are a number of support which we've been offering uh to family officers and investors um and we came up with a number of initiative joint initiatives with different entities from Abu Gabi to make their life easier in in Abu Gabi um actually attracting um uh family officers or expert to come and to choose Abu Dhabi as a city we've been promoting all the successful stories in Abu Dhabi to convince them that Abu Dhabi is the right destination for them or the right City for them also we've been um acting as a One-Stop shop for them where a family officers or investor can find all his needs or to answer all the questions through the residents office so we've been very active in the local market and International Market to promote ababi lifestyle because today if you think of it yesterday we were talking about Investors to come and invest but today after St in the office the language being changed completely so today we are saying come invest and move your family to Abu Dhabi move your staff we are helping you to convince your staff to come and work for you here in Abu Dhabi so this is one thing the other thing one of the initiatives which been um also working on the talent attraction um Family offices or investors wants to when when they decide to move to Abu Dhabi they we can help them to write the right Talent uh for them to be a part of their organization also we came up with a different initiatives where we developed a website where can answer any question uh for expert who wants to move to Abu Dhabi um and to be part of this ecosystem and the last thing which I wanted also also to uh cover here one of our promises also to it's not only attracting you to Abu Dhabi it's also to engage you with Abu Dhabi ecosystem to explain to you how system works in abui with the support of course with all abui entities uh with us so this is the way how we design um the Journey of any expert who wants to move to AB we put it in three different touching Point attracting engaging and to retain them in in AB so fantastic thank you um natella lifestyle important obviously creating the financial environment and security for businesses to operate is important for family offices um if you could just tell us a little bit about the Regulatory and legislative framework that atgm has in place to make it another appealing destination for family yeah happy to you so we have a very unique proposition in 2013 when adgm founding law was enacted Abu Dhabi made a decision that the legal system in Abu daab Global Market will be based on the English common law even though the prevailing system in uee and Middle East is a civil law now this was a very important decision and we made the decision that the English common law will apply in its entirety not in its qualified form and the legal system of English law will be applicable here too which gives us access and interaction with the English common law case law which is again very very important now the reason we decided that it has to be an English common law is because majority of the Financial Centers in the world are their legal systems are based on English common law majority of the commercial contracts are also governed by the English Comm and the preeminence of it is that the four major successful International Financial Centers their legal systems are based on the English common law so we atgm has its own civil and Commercial laws they are based on the English common law and U this is our very unique uh proposition and it's been successful so far very very much now because we have an English common law we have a variety of legal entities that anyone can use in order to set up the family office we have companies foundations and we have a trust region now our companies regulations offer a broad range of companies that you can use but we have a very very unique proposition which is restricted scope company which is a private Company Limited by shares but it's restricted in its scope and it can be set up for the purpose of setting up a single family office and so far we have 32 family offices which are using companies we also have foundations regime foundations was enacted in 2017 now foundations is a very interesting type of legal entity and uh it it acts like a common law trust but at the same time it has characteristics of the company for example a company has a legal personality foundation in adgm also has legal personality and it has to be registered by loing application with adgm registration Authority now in the foundation a Founder sets up the foundation and places the assets into the foundation he names the beneficiaries and he also a point Guardian now Foundation can be used for many purposes but primarily for U succession planning wealth preservation Private Collection preservation um also public purpose foundations and our foundation regime was very successful so far we have 240 foundations set up in abgm we also have a trust regime now trust is a legal relationship that's recognized under English common law statutes ad legislation and the principles of equity so we have trust special Provisions regulations you can set up a trust in abgm the express trust has to be managed by a trustee and provision of the trustee Services is a regulated activity in adgm and it is regulated by Financial Services regulatory Authority now in a trust you have a trust set law who puts the assets of the Trust In in the control of the trustee and beneficiaries who are named by the trust set law are entitled to expect that trustee will manage the trust assets according to their wishes and for their best benefits so together companies foundation and Trust regime offers a comprehensive Solutions uh legal and Regulatory framework for setting out family offices in ADM it's actually very very comprehensive indeed from what we're seeing in family office Association you've actually touched upon all the main issues that family offices require um and Gavin banking being a main one can you tell us a little bit about what Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank offers in terms of specific requirements for family offices thank you yasine it's a great pleasure to be here today over my finance career I've been lucky enough to work with many Global financial institutions and I've worked extensively with family offices over that period of time in each one of those roles that I've been in we always had something interesting to show Family offices we had opportunities to build skyscrapers in Manhattan Chinese private Equity but the very big and I think the very significant difference that I I see in the role that I have at the moment ADCB is that we're embedded in our clients day-to-day lives particularly with family offices you heard Michelle speaking in the previous panel there are generational decisions and there are generational Journeys that take place within family offices and being embedded within the community being part of the financial sector being part of the ecosystem we have the opportunity to really go on that Journey with our clients and that I think gives us a significant advantage against many offshore players and so particularly within ADCB um I'd like to highlight the Nexus that we have with adgm really bring building on what matella just said ADCB obviously is the third largest bank within the UAE it's a pillar of the UAE economy but increasingly we are seeing a very significant growth in the opportunity that we're able to deliver from our aggm Nexus and that is because of all of the reasons that was just speaking about in terms of common law and what it allows us to bring in terms of wealth planning so if I look at the journey and the relationship that we have with our clients from a group perspective the individuals and the family offices generated their wealth through their commercial and their corporate activities often ADCB was the banker so we can take a holistic view as we advise family offices in terms of their wealth we can look at the corporate side as well as the personal side if um if the individuals have significant real estate opportunities and re real estate Investments ADCB often was in the local market financing those buildings and that development and and now with the Nexus we're able to provide significant opportunities in terms of the the wealth planning guidance that we can deliver to our clients as well so I think the big advantage in the opportunity that we have as a a local player when it comes to working with family offices is that we know our clients the trust is there because we've been through the wealth creation because we've been through the succession challenges that Michelle was talking about previously in the panel and that trust is is really critical when it comes to having an advisory relationship with your clients if you're an offshore provider often you are a product provider when you're a local player you're part of the family to a large degree so I think that's the big advantage that we have as an institution and we're very keen to grow that as we work with family Offices here out of adgm thank you and do you see any developments in the Horizon that would make Abu Dhabi a little bit more of an appealing place for family offices so I I personally myself have have been on the journey that we were here hearing about I made the decision to move to Abu Dhabi nine months ago and I have to say it was probably one of the best decisions of my life and so thank you for welcoming me um I think as I look at the role of ADCB and I I look at our private banking and and wealth management franchise we're very honored and we're very lucky to sit here as part of this ecosystem with it it brings a a great responsibility we are a pillar of the economy we are obviously majority owned by mubadala we have close relationships with the regulators throughout the UAE and so we have a certain responsibility in terms of aiding and helping the ecosystem grow and and therefore as as responsible Finance Partners we are constantly trying to work with family offices to give them guidance in terms of how they set up we work with individuals in terms of giving them guidance in terms of the framework and the opportunities I think one thing that particularly excites me being about uh being in adgm is the Innovation that takes place out of out of adgm and that is throwing up huge opportunities for us as we build our business the opportunity to have dialogues with fintech Partners who are able to deliver solutions to many of the Legacy challenges that we face as a business but challenges that we can actually roll out across our Network ADCB has 1.7 million clients and the ability to change and impact their day-to-day Financial lives through working in this ecosystem is is really quite incredible so I think the Innovation that is taking place is is something that's particularly exciting that I think it's the biggest development that I'd highlight and i' I'd open up the question to the rest of the panelists if you feel like there's something in the Horizon that you would like to share with the audience that would make ababi appealing to family offices from your own perspective voluntarily tell it maybe I think ABAB is already a very very attractive destination for family offices it is a capital capital we have a community of asset managers fund managers private Capital providers and we're offering a fantastic lifestyle for families there are best schools in Abu Dhabi there are best medical service providers in Abu Dhabi and the personal security is second to none I don't think you could replace it with anything thank you gentlemen and Nella for your time thank you to the audience for uh your engagement and for being in the panel and I look forward to the rest of the week thank you thank [Applause]