\n Diversification also involves deciding where assets are held and through which institutions clients can access them. At the Hubbis Investment Forum \u2013 Singapore 2026, Oliver Ansingh, Chief Executive Officer of Picard Angst MEA, used his In The Hubbis Hot Seat session to argue that the United Arab Emirates deserves consideration alongside established international booking centres.
\nAnsingh presented the UAE as an additional option for families seeking to diversify custody and jurisdictional exposure. His firm\u2019s proposition combines a Dubai booking centre with Swiss investment expertise and international market access, serving high-net-worth clients, family offices and external asset managers.\n <\/p>\n
Key Takeaways<\/p>\n
\n\tDiversification Extends to Custody: Ansingh urged wealth managers to consider institutional and jurisdictional diversification.
\n\tThe UAE Adds an Option: He presented it as one possible booking centre within a broader international arrangement.
\n\tLocal Custody Can Serve Global Portfolios: Picard Angst MEA combines UAE custody and execution capabilities with access to international markets.
\n\tLocation Has Practical Implications: Connectivity with Asia, it\u2019s neutrality, as well as residency and structuring options form part of Ansingh\u2019s case for examining the UAE.
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What Diversification Means for Access to Wealth<\/p>\n
Ansingh traced the argument through several episodes in financial history. Modern portfolio theory established the importance of diversifying investments; the 2008 financial crisis demonstrated why exposure to financial institutions also matters. He then pointed to 2022 as a reminder that geopolitics can restrict access to booking centers overnight<\/p>\n
The resulting question is how a family preserves options across institutions and jurisdictions. \u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about really is optionality,\u201d he said. That does not require transferring an entire portfolio to one new location. Ansingh explicitly advocated diversifying a portion of the arrangement where doing so serves the client\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States remained among the centres he identified. His argument was that the UAE should also be evaluated when clients and their advisers consider where to hold wealth.<\/p>\n
A Dubai Booking Centre With International Capabilities<\/p>\n
Ansingh described a gap between the UAE\u2019s onshore commercial banking market and the international institutions operating in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). In his view, clients seeking UAE custody together with an international standard of investment service are uniquely served by the broker-dealer model.<\/p>\n
Picard Angst MEA operates from the DIFC and holds a Category 2 licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Ansingh highlighted its custody and execution services and put assets under management at approximately USD1.5 billion at the time of the session.<\/p>\n
The intended users include private clients and families as well as external asset managers seeking a place to book their clients\u2019 assets. The proposition is to hold assets through their DIFC booking centre while retaining the investment capabilities and global access associated with an international wealth-management relationship.<\/p>\n
Why the UAE Enters the Conversation<\/p>\n
Ansingh highlighted proximity and connectivity to Asia, whilst sitting in a different geopolitical sphere. He also referred to the UAE\u2019s approach to neutrality, presenting it as part of his assessment of jurisdictional diversification.<\/p>\n
Residency and structuring programmes were another consideration. He argued that these can support broader wealth and tax planning, making the choice of booking centre part of a family\u2019s overall arrangements. The usefulness of any particular programme depends on the client\u2019s residence, obligations and structure.<\/p>\n
Ansingh closed with \u201cUAE custody, Swiss expertise, global market access\u201d. His case was for providing another credible route through which clients can hold and manage assets, with the choice made as part of a considered distribution of institutional and geographical exposure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Diversification also involves deciding where assets are held and through which institutions clients can access them. At the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-803183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}