[Music] welcome back a new report from Henley and Partners says a record number of millionaires are expected to relocate internationally this year with the UK expected to see the largest outflow of high- netw worth individuals 142,000 millionaires in total are expected to move from not only the UK but China India South Korea and Russia but where will they go well many are coming here to the UAE according to Henley the Emirates will keep its crown as the world's leading wealth magnet as nearly 10,000 millionaires flock to the sunny Gulf state the UAE is doubling down to attract that wealth improving regulatory reforms and boasting a tax-free lifestyle access to golden visas is also helping to boost the wealth hub granting the coveted 10-year residency permit to property investors spending at least 2 million dirhams which is just over half a million USD so let's unpack this with Felipe Amarante he is the managing partner at Henley and Partners Middle East felipe welcome to the program and thanks for sharing this analysis which gives us a really exciting inside look at this major wealth migration now underway the report says a record 142,000 millionaires are expected to relocate this year so what's driving this surge in global wealth migration broadly yeah so the trend is not new right we have seen this now over the past years it's just accelerating and I think it's fair to say that residence or relocation you know to some way is similar to asset classes so the question comes about de-risking the question comes about hedging right and um there are so many options available for these wealthy individuals to sort of build maybe you know geographic blocks around the world so they can hatch they can derisk better against those events and the volatility that we're seeing right now let's unpack what we're seeing in the region and in the UAE specifically because the UAE tops your rankings again this year a net inflow of 9,800 millionaires expected which is more than what we see in the United States what are the factors that are driving this capital flight to the UAE there are various numbers i think one of them you touched base on you know it's very simple and very easy to do that process and that's appealing right if you if you look into other jurisdictions you know I'm from Europe you know if you want to relocate to Europe set up a company there's a lot of red tape and I think the EOE has done a phenomenal job in in making it simple and lower the bar for those who would like to come i think the other opportunity uh that people are seeking is obviously connecting to maybe the rise of the business activities that we see in the region there's a lot of capital here there's a lot of talent here and then you have all the other lifestyle aspects that we talked you know quite tremendously over the past years about the safety that you have about you know great real estate opportunity see it all makes some level of positivity and positive sentiment whereas in the you know western markets let's say Europe UK particularly got hit hard or Germany for that matter you have maybe more a bit of a negative sentiment and therefore because your options are available the people who can do they will relocate using investmentbased migration opt auctions what's interesting to me in this latest report as well focusing specifically in the Gulf Saudi Arabia actually making the list this year it's the biggest mover on the list 2,400 new millionaires expected what would you say has been the kingdom's turning point in terms of appeal for global high net worth so I think I think Saudi is going through incredible historical social and economic transformation right and that opens opportunities and those opportunities resonate with certain audiences who would like to be part of that story so you know Saudi Arabia also has an investment based residence option that wasn't there before a couple of years ago so what we see and I think that's the bottom line if countries do understand there's an opportunity to attract and retain talent and capital you know these will follow where they find a bit of a return and indeed with you know the economic outlook Saudi has to offer the giga projects and and and in this entire transformation people are seeking that opportunities that want to be part of the story i also have to ask you as well just given what has unfolded over the last couple of days in the region we've been stress testing what this most recent conflict between Israel and Iran means for the investability of the region but also general sentiment around this part of the world how would you say that geopolitical shocks like the recent conflict between Israel and Iran shape where the world's wealthy actually choose to settle yeah I think it's something where you will probably ask a lot of practitioners and we will all share maybe a little bit of nervousness that we had uh but you know at the end of the day it's also rational conversation um the regulation here the safety um the sort of resilience that you know particularly the UEE has to offer is quite strong and therefore I think or I know for instance we haven't had you know clients calling in in panic trying to move assets and and want to get out yes nervousness but I think we all bounce back to some little bit of you know let's move on and let's continue to to drive growth indeed almost like a tale of two Middle East now of course you have the Gulf states which have been working to diversify their economies and of course attracting a lot of interest and then the Middle East that occurs outside of that where we see a lot of this geopolitical upheaval happening and of course this is being watched very closely around the world in particular in the United Kingdom and I I wanted to unpack this a bit more with you because what we have seen in recent years particularly post Brexit is London's status as a global financial hub really being checked in real time and the UK is also seeing an unprecedented outflow 16,500 millionaires that's a record so what's driving that is this purely a tax story or is something deeper going on in the UK that is essentially saying you know high netw worth individuals aren't welcome here yeah I think it's it's a mix of a lot of factors right but let's let's be honest I think you know tax uh increase in tax or unreliability nonpritability on tax structures is never really a good business development device and that way we've seen something like this around the world right but in the UK it's not only that i think you know UK has gone through a lot of governmental changes had this severe events such as Brexit and that gives uncertainty and you know people who would like to build the business who are you know managing their family estates um wealthy individuals what they want at the end of the day is reliability and predictability and the UK at the moment appears to not have that and I think then there's an underlying factor as well where the the brand um that that UK has been so strong for is maybe somewhat lesser appealing at the moment simply because there are the options right you know those wealthy individuals relocate to Monaco they come to the UE they go where they actually feel a bit of welcome and it's that negative sentiment I wouldn't call it a depression but you know the the sort of positivity the yay that we have seen in the UK maybe let's say 10 years ago when it hosted the Olympics that is difficult to grasp right now and then you have a ripple effect you know one starts moving you know two move and then four and 16 and this is how it goes right now And therefore I think it's not only a tax conversation it's a wider economic um conversation i personally think of course the UK will bounce back because regulation will be put in place at some point you know to reverse these effects but at the moment it's not really appealing to be investor friendly