South African lender Investec opens office in Dubai’s financial centre

South African lender Investec said on Wednesday that it has opened an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) in a bid to access deep pools of wealth from wealthy families and individuals in the region.

The DIFC has been luring global banks, asset and wealth managers, and hedge funds, and it is now seeing rising interest from South African entities as investors look for safe havens, a neutral political stance, and favourable policies.

Cumesh Moodliar, CEO of Investec Bank Limited, said in a statement that Investec will offer its clients advisory and arranging services in private banking, wealth and investment management, and corporate and investment banking.

“We see a sustained emergence of high-net-worth individuals in Dubai and the Gulf as the region offers connectivity, quality services and growth opportunities for domestic and international companies,” Moodliar said.

By setting itself up in DIFC, Investec can use Dubai as a gateway to more than $3tn of private wealth within an hour’s flight, said Salmaan Jaffery, chief business development officer of DIFC Authority.

The Investec Group operates in two anchor geographies, South Africa and the UK, as well as the US, Ireland, the Channel Islands, Mauritius, India and Continental Europe.

Darryn Solomon, senior executive officer of the Investec DIFC office, told Reuters that the office currently has two team members, and as the business in the region grows, staffing will expand.

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