HSBC UAE Wealth Investment Summit 2026: Live from Dubai | Dubai still growing despite turbulence
Hadi Badri (left), CEO, Dubai Economic Development Corporation, Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism and Mohamed Al Marzooqi, Chief Executive Officer, UAE, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited during a session.
Dubai kept growing through a turbulent year because its strength lies as much in mindset as in numbers, said Hadi Badri, Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Economic Development Corporation, Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.
Badri spoke at HSBC’s UAE Wealth Investment Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dubai, in a fireside chat on “UAE Economic Vision: What’s Next on the Growth Agenda?” with Mohamed Al Marzooqi, Chief Executive Officer, UAE, HSBC Bank Middle East Limited.
“Dubai and UAE are a mindset. We’re as ambitious as ever,” Badri said. Dubai has added more than 200,000 residents this year, the DIFC’s pool of businesses has grown 30 per cent in 12 months, and financial services expanded 9 per cent in the first half, he said.
Badri, who plays a key role in advancing Dubai’s 10-year D33 economic agenda, launched just over three years ago, said its destination is unchanged but the route will keep shifting. “The point of arrival hasn’t changed. How we get there will change all the time because turbulence is the new normal.”
Dubai’s airport operations remained largely uninterrupted despite the conflict that broke out on 28 February, he said, and Emirates kept flying. “Judge Dubai by the streets,” he said. “If you look at the streets these days, they’re pretty busy.”
Families are still arriving, too. School enrollment reached record numbers in September, he said. “People are coming, kids are in school at record numbers,” Badri said.
The emirate’s finances give it room to manoeuvre, he said. Debt is about 11.5 per cent of gross domestic product, down 85 per cent from its pandemic peak. “For every $100 we spend, we collect $115.”
Source: HSBC
Dubai ranks seventh among global financial centres, having been outside the top 20 in 2023, and has led the world in foreign direct investment for five consecutive years, Badri said. Its population grew 7 per cent last year, against 2 per cent for the next-fastest in the top 20. “Dubai is a choice,” he said.
Investors have been rewarded for backing the city, Badri said. Over the past four years Dubai has been “the city of value creation” against Singapore, Hong Kong and London, across real estate, equities and business ownership. There has been no gating on withdrawals, he said, and deposits are higher than ever.
Capacity for the next phase is already in place, he said. Dubai has significant land available for future development, Emirates airline’s order book is almost 1.5 times its current fleet, and the new Al Maktoum airport will handle three times the traffic of Dubai International. With supply and demand both accounted for, Badri said he hoped the numbers would leave everyone in the room “excited about investing more”.
01:20 PM, 22 October 2026
HSBC sees family offices reshaping UAE private banking
Feras Zaid Aljaramani, Head of UAE, HSBC Global Private Banking
Institutional wealth now makes up most of the client base at UAE private banks, according to Feras Zaid Aljaramani, Head of UAE, HSBC Global Private Banking.
Aljaramani spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of the HSBC Wealth Investment Summit, where he spoke of how family offices and personal investment companies now account for 60 to 70 per cent of private bank clients. A decade ago, wealthy individuals made up 80 to 90 per cent.
Institutional money brings longer investment horizons, wider diversification and tighter risk management, he explains.
The past seven months tested the region, including the UAE. Aljaramani says that despite all the roadblocks the country continues to generate wealth and is witnessing relocation into the region by ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices and funds. He calls the country “anti-fragile” and says that even though flows dipped at one point, it saw the recovery as “investors watched the UAE hold steady”.
Families formalizing an office raise four core concerns: succession planning, risk management, diversification and returns. Legal, tax and political exposure follow. HSBC begins with wealth structuring and succession planning, he adds. The bank keeps portfolios within each client’s stated risk profile.
But what makes HSBC’s private banking arm stand out? Aljaramani points to the bank’s reach as its edge. “HSBC runs seven main booking centres, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Geneva, London, the Channel Islands and New York.
Clients can access opportunities across markets 24×7”. The group also spans corporate, investment and retail banking alongside its global private bank.
He credits the bank’s history, and its brand recognition and equity for being strong enough to win client trust.
HSBC AM’s Daisy Ho bets on the Asia-Middle East wealth corridor
Daisy Ho, CEO Asia Pacific and Hong Kong at HSBC Asset Management.
HSBC Asset Management is expanding in the Middle East as wealth links with Asia deepen, says Daisy Ho, CEO Asset Management, Asia and Middle East. At the HSBC Wealth Investment Summit in Dubai, she pointed to MENAT and ASEAN as the corridors opening new routes for investment, capital formation and cross-border collaboration.
“HSBC Asset Management is well placed to help clients understand and access opportunities across these interconnected wealth corridors,” she says.
The firm opened an onshore office in the UAE earlier this year.
Ho described the move as proof of its commitment to growing its presence and capabilities in the region. It also supports HSBC Group’s strategic focus on the Middle East. The office sits within International Wealth and Premier Banking (IWPB) with an aim to become the leading international wealth bank in the UAE.
According to Ho, the Middle East is one of the fastest-growing wealth markets in the world. Retail investors are getting more sophisticated. A new generation of customers wants professional investment solutions. She understands that clients’ needs are shifting too.
Wealth creation, economic diversification and entrepreneurial activity are making financial lives more international. She noted that there is a “rising demand for scalable solutions that match each investor’s objectives and risk preferences.”
The firm is learning from local insights, global investment expertise and its long-standing regional presence. “Our mission is simple,” Ho says. HSBC AM wants regional investors to have access to world-class strategies tailored to local needs.
Dubai is no longer a regional hub, but a global one
Surendra Rosha, Co-Chief Executive, Asia and Middle East, HSBC Holdings plc delivering his opening keynote address during the inaugural HSBC UAE Wealth Investment Summit.
HSBC is deepening its wealth footprint in the UAE, with Co-Chief Executive Surendra Rosha saying Dubai has outgrown its regional role.
“It is no longer a regional hub; it is a global hub,” Rosha said today in a keynote opening the bank’s UAE Wealth Investment Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dubai. He called the country “one of the world’s most important platforms for capital, for talent, and for enterprise.”
Whether clients are weighing wealth, corporate expansion or careers, “Dubai becomes a venue for conversation about globality and being able to execute globally from there,” said Rosha, who runs the bank’s Asia and Middle East business.
The UAE is one of HSBC’s four priority markets globally and a “critical connector” between Asia and the Middle East, and between the Middle East and the West. The UAE operation sent about 1 billion of incremental deposits to the wider group in the past year, he said.
Source: Gulf News