Wellington Management set to expand into Middle East with Dubai office

Wellington Management, which handles more than $1.1tn of client assets, is opening an office in Dubai, joining a raft of international financial firms expanding to the Middle Eastern business hub.

The Boston-based firm is set to appoint Waleed Al-Rezooqi from Morgan Stanley to lead its operations in the city and help the money manager build out its regional presence, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named as the information is private.

Al-Rezooqi is an executive director at Morgan Stanley and has worked at the Wall Street firm for almost six years, according to LinkedIn. He previously worked at HSBC Holdings and Natixis SA in the region, his profile shows.

A representative for Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Al-Rezooqi didn’t respond to calls to his mobile phone and messages on LinkedIn.

Wellington’s presence in the Middle East

Wellington has been managing assets for clients in the Middle East and North Africa for 29 years and decided to expand into the region “to get close to our clients and support their local needs,” the company said, declining to comment on Al-Rezooqi.

Wellington, which is known for serving institutional clients and sub-advising active mutual funds, is the latest money manager to open its office in Dubai. Most of the world’s top investment banks, asset managers and, more recently, hedge funds have established their regional headquarters in the Dubai International Financial Centre, a free-zone with its own English-language common law court system.

Wellington recently cut about 5 per cent of its staff as the industry adjusts to volatile markets after a tough 2022. The cuts are across different roles and locations at the firm, which has about 3,400 employees globally.