PRESS RELEASE

The UAE on track to register 700 Foundations in 2025

M/HQ commands 24% Market Share

10 July 2025, Dubai, UAE: The UAE is set to witness the registration of 700 new Foundations a well-established wealth management tool – across the UAE by the end of 2025, a 33% increase from 2024. This growth reinforces its position as a leading jurisdiction for sophisticated wealth structuring and intergenerational planning and reflects the country’s continued investment in a regulatory framework designed to meet the evolving needs of high-net-worth individuals, entrepreneurial families and family offices.

Since their introduction in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in 2017, the use of Foundations has increased a hundred-fold – from just five established in that first year to 361 across the UAE in the first half of 2025. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) alone recorded an impressive 64% jump in Foundation registrations from 2018 to date, solidifying the UAE’s position as a premier global wealth management hub.

M/HQ, the UAE’s leading private wealth optimization platform, continues to dominate the market. The firm has assisted and currently services over 300 Foundations registered across the ADGM, the DIFC and RAK International Corporate Centre – representing a 24% market share of CSP-managed Foundations.

Yann Mrazek, Founder and Managing Partner of M/HQ, said: “The sharp rise in the use of Foundations in the UAE reflects the growing demand for sophisticated asset protection and succession planning tools as the country solidifies its status as a leading global wealth hub.

“M/HQ is proud to have played a central role in the creation of Foundations as a wealth management tool in the UAE and continues to contribute to its evolution as a sophisticated structuring vehicle for asset protection, business continuity and legacy planning. We remain steadfast in our commitment to helping families structure and preserve their wealth with clarity, confidence and foresight.”

As part of its efforts to unlock the full potential of regional families’ preferred inter-generational legacy planning tool, M/HQ in collaboration with GSB is set to release the second edition of its Lending to UAE Foundations Survey 2.0. The findings aim to educate financial institutions and founders of the growing opportunity to engage in foundation-based lending, encouraging the development of tailored credit solutions within the UAE’s evolving wealth structuring landscape.

-ENDS-

Note to editors:

1. M/HQ is a multi-services private wealth management optimization platform catering to successful individuals and international families. Its one-stop-shop offering is unique in the Middle East: a holistic and cross-disciplinary combination of a market-leading corporate services firm, a private client specialist team and a regulatory and compliance services practice, all through one single platform.
2. Focusing on wealth structuring and legacy planning issues, M/HQ particularly assists in establishing and servicing Family- and Group- Holdings, Single- and Multi- Family offices, Foundations and other asset consolidation/ protection and intergenerational wealth management structures. Headquartered in the UAE since 2009, we are an entrepreneurial firm for entrepreneurial clients. www.m-hq.com
3. Awarded WealthBriefing MENA “Succession Estate Planning Services Firm of the Year” for a record seven consecutive years (2016-2022), “Best Family Office Advisory Offering Team of the Year” and “Best Foundation Team of the Year” (both for three consecutive years, 2022, 2023 & 2024), M/HQ has firmly established itself as the leader in the field of private client practice, inter-generational planning and implementation of fiduciary tools in the Gulf region.
4. M/HQ stands as a beacon of excellence in the Foundation creation field, showcasing an unmatched expertise and dedication to facilitating the establishment and success of foundations in the region. With a market-leading portfolio comprising more than 300 active UAE Foundations – 24% of CSP-managed foundations in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and Dubai International Finance Centre – under our administration, our reputation as the quintessential private client firm and go-to for foundation creation and administration has been solidified over a decade.
5. For further information, please contact Sarah D’Souza, Marketing & Communications Specialist at dsouza@m-hq.com and +971 56 368 7106.