TCI joins hedge fund race to open UAE office

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Sir Christopher Hohn’s activist hedge fund TCI has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, joining a wave of groups betting that the United Arab Emirates will help power the industry’s growth.

The fund, which manages $60bn, said it will use the office to forge ties with local investors and expand its assets under management. Bronwyn Owen, the group’s head of investors relations, is relocating from New York to run the office.

The UAE has in recent years become a hedge fund hotspot, drawing the likes of Izzy Englander’s Millennium, Steve Cohen’s Point 72, quant investing firm AQR and macro fund Brevan Howard.

Industry executives say that having an office in the region has become increasingly important to winning local business and building ties with major sovereign wealth funds.

“The Middle East is a vital market for the investment management industry, both from a talent and asset growth perspective, as well as a critical partner in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and climate change,” Hohn said on Thursday.

Hedge funds have so far favoured Dubai over Abu Dhabi but the latter has started to gain traction. Brevan Howard set up an office in Abu Dhabi, a step that will see both co-founder Trifon Natsis and chief compliance officer Ryan Taylor move there. The fund plans to hire more than 100 staff there over the next year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Executives and traders say the absence of personal income tax in the UAE has also strengthened its hand as hedge funds consider expansion plans beyond the traditional financial hubs of London and New York.

TCI, which has offices in both New York and London, did not clarify whether it would transfer additional existing staff to Abu Dhabi.

Hohn has built a reputation as one of the most fearsome activist hedge funds, pushing for changes in corporate strategy or the replacement of management.

In the past year, TCI has campaigned for the removal of three board members at Spanish telecoms company Cellnex and put pressure on plane maker Airbus to drop a plan to purchase a unit of French IT company Atos.

The hedge fund’s decision to establish a base in the Gulf state comes as the UAE prepares to host the UN’s COP28 climate summit. TCI has in recent years sought to put pressure on companies to disclose their carbon emissions.

TCI said that having an office in the UAE will help it continue with “its efforts catalysing climate action within the private finance sector”.

Hohn said that he planned to use the new office in Abu Dhabi to help with additional philanthropic work. Hohn is the chair of a foundation linked to the hedge fund which gives money to charitable causes including improving children’s health, helping countries cope with the effects of climate change and promoting reproductive health and rights.