Dubai Teams Up With Julius Baer to Attract Family Offices: What the Wealth Hub Push Means for Prime Property

Dubai has added a heavyweight name to its campaign for global private wealth. On 27 July 2026 the Department of Economy and Tourism signed a strategic alliance with Julius Baer (Middle East) Ltd, part of the Swiss private bank that managed 547 billion Swiss francs at the end of June 2026 and operates across more than 25 countries and 60 locations.

The agreement is built to give the bank's international clients, business owners, family offices and private individuals a more direct route into the emirate's investment ecosystem, and it ties Julius Baer's global network to the goals of Dubai's D33 economic agenda. Hadi Badri, chief executive of the Dubai Economic Development Corporation, said the partnership is about converting interest in Dubai into actual establishment and invested capital, while Rahul Malhotra, who leads emerging markets for Julius Baer, represented the bank.

Why a private banking deal is property news

Family offices are among the most dependable buyers of prime Dubai homes, and they are multiplying quickly. Dubai International Financial Centre counted 1,289 family related entities by the end of 2025, a rise of 61 percent in a single year, alongside 1,115 foundations set up by DIFC based families, a 66 percent jump. Each of those structures represents a family that has committed capital, and very often a household, to the city.

• Julius Baer assets under management: 547 billion Swiss francs at end June 2026
• DIFC family related entities: 1,289 at end 2025, up 61 percent year on year
• Foundations created by DIFC based families: 1,115, up 66 percent
• Dubai GDP growth in 2025: 5.4 percent
• Greenfield FDI: ranked world number one for five consecutive years

What buyers and investors should watch

The announcement is light on operational detail, and no specific services or referral programmes were named. The direction, however, is unmistakable: every wealthy family that relocates needs somewhere to live, and most also buy investment property, which keeps demand firm at the top of the market and feeds the executive rental segment beneath it. Buyers weighing their next move can study how Dubai's prime residential areas absorbed earlier waves of wealth migration to judge where this new money is most likely to settle.

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