HSBC announced on Wednesday that it has expanded its private banking business in the UAE to cater to the growing number of high-net-worth investors. The new private bank targets clients with investable assets of more than $2 million, HSBC said in a statement. "The launch of HSBC Bank Middle East Global Private Banking in the UAE complements the private banking services we have provided to clients through the DIFC since 2015," Abdulfattah Sharaf, chief executive of HSBC UAE and head of international at HSBC Bank Middle East, said. "Opening a new branch of our private bank in the UAE adds an important location to HSBC's global network of international wealth management hubs, giving the growing number of UAE-based millionaires more choice about where their assets are held." Sharaf added. Dubai is the 23rd-most popular city in the world for ultra-wealthy residents, after the emirate recorded an 18 percent increase in high-net-worth individuals who hold over $1 million in the first six months of 2022, according to a report released last month by New World Wealth and Henley & Partners, which tracks private wealth and investment migration trends. The city's population of high-net-worth individuals rose to 67,900, up from 54,000 in June last year, the report read. The number of high-net-worth individuals in the UAE is projected to grow 39 percent by 2026 to reach more than 228,000 people, from 163,000 in 2021, said a March report by consultancy Knight Frank. The UAE's ultra-high-net-worth population, who hold assets of more than $30 million, is expected to increase by 21 percent in the same period. HSBC currently operates 11 international private wealth centres, with the UAE joining a network that includes Switzerland, Singapore, the UK, Luxembourg, and the U.S. "The UAE is a global private banking hub where our clients in the country, and our clients from around the world, increasingly tell us they want to hold part of their financial and real estate wealth," Farzad Billimoria, managing director and head of private banking for the UAE at HSBC, stated. HSBC, which also owns a private banking unit in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, will offer onshore and offshore private wealth management services at the new branch.
