Family Offices, Private Wealth and Sustainable and Impact Investment

This session was the culmination of a series of virtual meetings between experts and stakeholders from both countries in discussing the role of private wealth and family offices in scaling up sustainable and impact investment, and opportunities for closer collaboration between the UK and UAE in this sector. Some of the participants included Vistra, Themis, Al Tamimi & Co, Standard Chartered, HSBC, ACCA, amongst others. Campaign participants identified three specific areas where the potential for bilateral commercial cooperation was the strongest:

•  Addressing the risks of embedding ESG-focussed investments in private wealth portfolios

• Creating more robust definitions, frameworks and measurements for sustainable and impact investment

• Exchanging knowledge on addressing cultural and intergenerational attitudes to private wealth and sustainable investment

 The outcomes of the virtual meetings and the Summit formed the basis of our White Paper, with a series of recommendations on how to overcome regulatory, intergenerational and cultural barriers to commercial collaboration between the UK and the UAE and improving methodologies for measuring the impact of sustainable investment in the private wealth sector. The White Paper will be published in September 2024 and will be submitted to both Governments for consideration later this year at the UK-UAE Ministerial Joint Economic Committee (JEC). The UAE-UK Business Council will track the progress of the recommendations made within this paper, as well as conduct future campaigns centred around the financial sector.

 You  can watch the highlights from our Private Wealth, Family Offices and Sustainable and Impact Investment Summit here, Highlights of Private Wealth, Impact Investment & Sustainable Investment Summit 5 December 2023 (youtube.com), or alternatively, view the panel discussions on our YouTube channel, UAE - UK Business Council - YouTube.