\n Wealth created in the United Arab Emirates is growing alongside capital arriving with families and businesses from overseas. As more of that wealth comes under professional management, private banks are working with clients whose expectations extend beyond investment portfolios to local banking, business connections and financing.
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\nFeras Zaid, Head of Private Bank, UAE, at HSBC, sees different needs emerging among established local families and those relocating to the country. The growth of family offices is also bringing more specialist investment teams into the conversation.
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\nZaid returned to HSBC in January 2025 and took responsibility for its entire UAE private banking business in August 2026. He brings more than two decades of corporate banking experience to a role that connects personal wealth with the bank\u2019s broader services.\n <\/p>\n
Key Takeaways<\/p>\n
\n\tDifferent sources of wealth create different needs: Locally generated wealth often needs investment direction and diversification, while families relocating to the UAE may already have wealth structures and want access to the local economy.
\n\tFamily offices are changing the conversation: Professional teams are bringing more demanding investment and implementation requirements, with private bankers increasingly dealing with professional investment specialists.
\n\tHSBC\u2019s Local and international banking channels and capabilities are working together: Feras\u2019s remit spans over both Offshore and Onshore private banking, including Abu Dhabi Global Market and Dubai International Financial Centre, connecting everyday banking needs with international wealth management.
\n\tBusiness owners need more than portfolio management: HSBC\u2019s proposition brings private, corporate and investment banking together, alongside financing against investment portfolios and certain illiquid assets and premium real estate.
\n\tDomestic investment channels have room to develop: Feras expects more institutional participation in UAE real estate and greater depth in local equity markets as the pool of wealth grows.
\n\tCorporate banking experience informs his approach: Years spent with company owners and senior executives made the move into private banking a natural extension of increasingly strategic client discussions.
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Wealth Created Locally and Wealth Arriving From Abroad<\/p>\n
Until around 2018 or 2019, Feras says, the UAE was predominantly a net exporter of wealth, with much of its locally generated capital invested overseas. He has since seen a marked increase in wealth arriving in the country, even as investors continue to pursue opportunities abroad.<\/p>\n
Founders and business owners are relocating, with their companies or in a personal capacity. Zaid cites lifestyle, favourable tax structures, ease of doing business, political stability and the country\u2019s position between East and West. Senior executives are also arriving as international companies expand.<\/p>\n
Fund managers are establishing offices close to the wealth generated in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the other emirates, including the country\u2019s sovereign and quasi-sovereign investment institutions.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou have wealth being created and wealth being imported at the same time,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
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Locally generated wealth often needs investment direction and diversification. Families arriving from overseas may already have those arrangements and want help connecting with the local economy and its institutions.<\/p>\n
A More Professional Approach to Family Wealth<\/p>\n
Zaid recalls family assets commonly being managed by their creator, a chief financial officer or the operating company\u2019s corporate structures. More families now have dedicated professional teams overseeing their wealth.<\/p>\n
Private bankers increasingly deal with counterparts who manage capital professionally. Discussions become more demanding, covering investment strategy, implementation and the connections needed to execute a family\u2019s plans. This has been a welcome development by HSBC given the bank\u2019s top class global and local advisory capabilities.<\/p>\n
He expects more family offices to be established locally or relocate from abroad. Their presence can attract others:<\/p>\n
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\u201cFamily offices like to sit next to each other,\u201d he observes.<\/p>\n
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A larger concentration gives them access to a growing network of investors and specialists.<\/p>\n
Connecting Local Banking With International Wealth<\/p>\n
Feras\u2019s UAE responsibility covers HSBC\u2019s private banking operations in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and its onshore business. The combination allows clients to address local requirements such as operating accounts, deposits, credit cards, mortgages and investments alongside their international wealth arrangements.<\/p>\n
Clients can use booking centres including Hong Kong, Singapore, Geneva, Luxembourg, London, Guernsey and New York. Zaid describes the UAE team as the point of coordination for their local and international requirements.<\/p>\n
An entrepreneur may need private banking for personal and family wealth assets, corporate and investment banking for the business and corporate transactions. Employees can also be served through HSBC\u2019s retail division.<\/p>\n
HSBC\u2019s UAE operations include those services alongside wealth management and asset management. The country also houses its regional headquarters.<\/p>\n
HSBC marks 80 years in the UAE in 2026. Feras sees that history in its relationships with local families and in the banking professionals it has trained, many of whom have moved into other institutions and businesses.<\/p>\n
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Key Priorities<\/p>\n
Feras wants to improve how HSBC serves families over the course of their personal and business lives, building relationships that can continue across generations. That requires the private banking team to draw on expertise elsewhere in the bank and in other markets.<\/p>\n
Its investment offering covers equities, fixed income, hedge funds and alternatives. He says the bank\u2019s scale and relationships help clients access funds, private equity and investments in growing companies internationally.<\/p>\n
Financing Beyond the Investment Portfolio<\/p>\n
Feras also highlights lending, from Lombard loans against investment portfolios to financing involving certain unlisted company shares and real estate, including trophy properties and other assets.<\/p>\n
That range matters for business owners whose wealth includes substantial illiquid holdings. Alongside managing their investments, HSBC can help them raise liquidity against assets beyond a securities portfolio.<\/p>\n
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Into the Future<\/p>\n
More Ways to Invest Within the UAE<\/p>\n
Global equities, fixed income, alternative investments and real estate will remain important destinations for UAE-based wealth, Feras expects. Growing capital within the country is also encouraging the public and private sectors to create more domestic investment channels.<\/p>\n
Real estate is one area where he sees scope for change. A market historically associated with individual investors could draw greater institutional participation through funds and real estate investment trusts. He links that potential to the development of regulatory frameworks around property investment and management.<\/p>\n
He expects local equity markets to deepen and attract more institutional investors. Founders establishing or expanding businesses offer another route for investment within the country. Together, these developments could give families more ways to invest part of their wealth locally.<\/p>\n
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Getting Personal with Feras Zaid<\/p>\n
Feras was born in the UAE into a family of education professionals. His father was a principal at a government school in the country, where he later retired. Feras completed a bachelor\u2019s degree in business and finance at Damascus University.<\/p>\n
His first full-time banking role was in the corporate banking division of Union National Bank, which later merged with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. He started in a junior position at the bank, treating the role as an apprenticeship. \u201cFirst jobs are where you don\u2019t get your earning, you get your learning,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He progressed to credit analysis and then became a relationship officer at another regional bank. HSBC recruited him in 2008 as a corporate banking relationship manager in Sharjah. He subsequently moved to its large corporate team in Dubai and, in 2016, into global banking, working across corporate and investment banking until 2020.<\/p>\n
He then joined Mashreq Bank, where his responsibilities included the public sector, commodities, oil and gas, as well as periods covering education, healthcare, aviation and utilities. By 2024, after more than two decades in corporate banking, he wanted to apply that experience in a different field.<\/p>\n
By then, discussions with company owners and chief executives were increasingly strategic. Private banking offered a way to apply that experience directly to their personal wealth. His initial role on returning to HSBC was to lead a team serving Arab, Emirati and expatriate clients.<\/p>\n
Outside work, his favourite company is that of his wife and son, whom he describes as his best friends. They enjoy travelling together, with Italy and Scotland among his preferred destinations. He also reads widely, particularly about financial markets, financial history and history more generally.<\/p>\n
One favourite is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, particularly its account of how money, government and other modern concepts developed. His description of life outside banking is modest: \u201cI don\u2019t climb mountains. I don\u2019t fight with sharks.\u201d He enjoys a peaceful life with his family and books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wealth created in the United Arab Emirates is growing alongside capital arriving with families and businesses from overseas.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[138,246,111,139,69,244,245],"class_list":["post-625219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}