Millennium hedge fund prepares to relocate staff from Dubai amid the war

US hedge fund Millennium Management is looking for solutions for employees who do not want to return to Dubai amid the war in the Middle East, Financial Time writes, citing a source familiar with the situation. To this end, Millennium Management is considering relocating them to the island of Jersey in Europe

According to an FT source familiar with Millennium Management's plans, the damage caused by drone debris to the building at Dubai International Financial Center where the fund's employees work has heightened their security fears.

Now Millennium Management, which operated before the conflict in the Middle East with more than 100 employees in Dubai, is ready to expand its presence in Jersey. There it expects to accommodate people from the company who are leaving the United Arab Emirates and have requested a transfer, the newspaper said.

The island of Jersey, located off the northern coast of France, is under the protection and international representation of the UK, but is not part of it. Therefore, it has a more lenient tax regime than the mainland (the maximum income tax rate here is 20%), the FT explains.

Amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, employers with offices or employees in the UAE have generally come under pressure to offer more sustainable solutions for people who have left Dubai, whose status as a safe tax jurisdiction for expats has been undermined by attacks from Iran. Many expats remain outside the country and risk facing higher tax liabilities if they are unable to return to the UAE, the FT notes.

Hedge fund Millennium Management is also discussing with employees alternative locations in Europe and Asia to replace the Middle East region as their primary workplace, the newspaper's source said. The company has offices in Puerto Rico, Geneva and Singapore, among others, with employees allowed to work from more than 140 locations around the world.

Millennium Management is one of the largest hedge funds in the world: it manages about $87 billion and employs more than 6,600 people. The fund's structure includes about 330 investment teams that work with various asset classes - from bonds and equities to commodities.

Dubai, the Middle East's largest financial and tourist center, has in recent years attracted traders with the opportunity to maximize profits thanks to zero income tax. During the pandemic, the influx of expats to the city intensified, helped, among other things, by its reputation as a safe jurisdiction, the FT notes.

However, expats are now, at least temporarily, looking for alternatives to Dubai: over the past month, the city has continued to be subjected to drone attacks from Iran. On March 18, it was reported that the UAE may relax tax rules for expats who left because of the war with Iran. This measure is aimed at encouraging the return of those who left after the start of the conflict, the FT wrote.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor