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Over the past two decades, the Middle East has emerged as one of the fastest-growing regions for wealth creation. According to Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Report, the Middle East is home to more than 200 billionaires and over 750,000 millionaires, with total wealth projected to grow by 42% by 2030.
The UAE alone saw 7,200 millionaires relocate in 2024, pushing its high-net-worth population to around 134,000, nearly double what it was a decade ago.
As prosperity rises across the Middle East – from the UAE to Egypt – so too does the international exposure of families and businesses with assets, investments, and family members spread across multiple jurisdictions.
This rapid increase in prosperity brings with it complexity. Assets, investments, and family members are more globally spread than ever before, and unstructured holdings are increasingly vulnerable. Proactive structuring is no longer optional, it is a necessity to protect luxury assets, manage succession, and navigate international legal and tax frameworks.
However, in the Middle East, solutions must be adapted to regional cultural and legal frameworks, including Sharia-based inheritance laws in countries such as Egypt, making proactive structuring increasingly important.
Luxury Asset Protection
The appetite for luxury assets in the Middle East has never been stronger – from superyachts in Qatar and the UAE to private jets in Saudi Arabia and landmark real estate holdings in London, Paris, and New York.
For example, Saudi Arabia and the UAE consistently rank among the top global markets for private jet usage, while Qatar was recently listed among the highest per capita owners of luxury yachts.
Net wealth in the UAE alone reached USD 2.9 trillion in 2023, with real asset wealth projected to reach USD 3.1 trillion by 2028.
Yet ownership is only the starting point. These assets can be vulnerable to litigation, political instability, creditor claims, or even family disputes. High-value real estate in London, villas in the South of France, or yachts registered in offshore jurisdictions are increasingly targeted during divorce proceedings or inheritance disputes.
Structures such as trusts, foundations, and special purpose vehicles (SPVs) can safeguard assets by ring-fencing them from personal liabilities. Beyond protection, these vehicles can also offer benefits of confidentiality, enhanced tax efficiency, and continuity, ensuring assets like yachts, art, or property portfolios are preserved and can be transferred between generations smoothly.
Case example:
A Middle Eastern family acquires a 65-metre superyacht, which they wish to use privately and for occasional charter.
Owning it directly would expose the vessel to personal liability risks and complicated cross-border operations. Furthermore, a high value asset like this carries exposure to risks such as litigation, operational liabilities and inheritance disputes.
To safeguard the asset, an Isle of Man SPV is set up with management overseen by a professional corporate services provider, to achieve:
- Ring-fencing of liability – protects the family wealth from claims linked to the yacht's operation i.e., crew employment or accidents.
- Operational efficiency – benefits from the Isle of Man's world-class yacht management and regulatory framework, including compliance with international safety and tax standards. The Isle of Man also offers the Yachts Engaged in Trade Scheme which allows for pleasure vessels to be used for third party charter for up to 84 days per year in French, Monegasque, Italian and Greek waters, without impacting its VAT status under Temporary Admission.
- Succession planning – the SPV shares can be placed into a trust or foundation, ensuring a seamless transfer of ownership to the next generation without disruption or disputes.
This structure not only enhances confidentiality but also ensures the yacht can be chartered out under commercially sound arrangements as well as being used privately by the family, creating a balance between personal enjoyment and wealth generation, while preserving the asset and its future.
NB: Clients are recommended to seek the appropriate tax/VAT/legal advice tailored to their requirements and circumstances before setting up any kind of structure.
Estate & Succession Planning
The challenge of intergenerational wealth transfer is particularly acute in the Middle East, where over USD 1 trillion of assets are expected to pass between generations in the next decade. Without planning, history suggests that 70% of family wealth is lost by the second generation, and 90% by the third.
Succession planning in the region must address not only the financial dimension but also family values, business continuity, and cross-border assets not to mention cultural and legal considerations. In the Middle East, Sharia principles often apply, so for families with global exposure, the use of private trust companies, family charters, and international foundations can help to formalise succession strategies and clarify decision-making processes.
In countries across the region, including Egypt, inheritance laws are strongly influenced by Sharia principles, with specific rules on forced heirship. Families with cross-border assets, for example in London, Dubai, or Malta, need structures that comply locally while allowing flexibility internationally.
Managing Forced Heirship Rules
Forced heirship laws dictate how wealth must be distributed among heirs and are a cornerstone of inheritance law across much of the Middle East. While designed to ensure fairness, they can create unintended fragmentation of assets, especially where families own complex cross-border businesses or assets.
For example, without planning, a luxury property in London or a superyacht registered in the Isle of Man could end up being split between multiple heirs, triggering disputes, creating costly delays and legal battles, and ultimately undermining asset value.
Structured planning can help to avoid these pitfalls. Solutions such as trusts, choice-of-law clauses and compliant planning mechanisms allow families to respect local inheritance frameworks while protecting global assets.
Case example:
A Kuwaiti family residing in Kuwait acquires a portfolio of high-value residential properties in Knightsbridge, London. Held directly, UK succession rules combined with regional forced heirship considerations could fragment ownership among multiple heirs.
By transferring the assets into an Isle of Man discretionary trust, the family could achieve:
- Controlled, centralised management of the properties.
- Trustees can allocate benefits in line with family wishes while remaining compliant with UK law.
- The trust can provide protection against family disputes and potential fragmentation of the assets, while offering potential UK inheritance tax efficiency.
Note:For full effectiveness, the trust structure should be designed in coordination with local advisers to address Sharia inheritance considerations and any local estate planning obligations.
NB: Clients should seek tailored tax, VAT, and legal advice, including coordination with local advisors to address Sharia inheritance considerations and local estate planning obligations.
Cross-Border Transactions and Global Mobility
Today's wealth is increasingly mobile across the Middle East. Families often have multiple homes, children educated abroad, and investments spanning continents. Jurisdictions across the region have differing inheritance rules, tax regulations, and asset registration requirements, making professional advice crucial for families managing multi-jurisdictional wealth.
The UAE, now one of the world's top wealth migration hubs, demonstrates how global this mobility has become. However, with this mobility comes complexity: tax residency disputes, double taxation risks, and international reporting obligations (such as CRS and FATCA) can create operational and compliance challenges. Proper international structuring helps mitigate these risks and provides clarity over ownership, reporting, and tax obligations.
Holding companies, private trust structures, and tailored governance frameworks can simplify cross-border ownership, with trusted intermediaries like corporate service providers and legal/tax advisors playing a vital role in allowing families to manage not just the transfer of wealth, but also its ongoing protection in line with evolving global regulations.
Case example:
An Emirati investor with assets in Europe, Asia, and the US consolidates global shareholdings under a Maltese holding company. This structure could provide:
- Access to double-tax treaties across multiple jurisdictions.
- Efficient repatriation of dividends to the family office.
- A clear, compliant framework for international reporting obligations.
By consolidating under Malta's robust legal system and EU-aligned regulation, the family can simplify administration, reduce cross-border tax leakage, and gain a centralised structure for ongoing management and succession planning.
NB: Clients are recommended to seek the appropriate tax/VAT/legal advice tailored to their requirements and circumstances before setting up any kind of structure.
Wealth Preservation
True wealth preservation is about more than protection – it's about stewardship.
Yet according to PwC's Family Business Survey, only 33% of Middle Eastern family businesses have a formal succession plan, highlighting a significant gap in readiness for the future.
With regional wealth doubling in recent years – the richest 0.05% in MENA grew their assets from USD 1.6 trillion in 2019 to USD 3.0 trillion in 2022 – the stakes are higher than ever.
Families who succeed in maintaining wealth across generations are those who combine robust governance structures with a culture of education and responsibility.
This often means creating family councils, engaging the next generation in wealth education, and appointing professional trustees to provide impartial oversight.
By blending governance with education, families can preserve both financial wealth and the intangible legacy of values, reputation, and vision.
Conclusion
For families in the Middle East, safeguarding wealth across borders requires foresight, flexibility, and a willingness to blend tradition with innovation. Luxury assets, global estates, and next-generation legacies are best protected through carefully tailored structures that reflect both local sensitivities and international best practice.
At Sentient International, we specialise in guiding families and their advisors through these complexities, and create bespoke corporate and trust solutions for the purpose of estate and succession planning, protection of luxury assets, navigating forced heirship rules, long-term wealth preservation and cross-border transactions.
Our approach ensures that your legacy and the people and assets you care about most, are secured for generations to come.
Whether forming an SPV for asset holding or corporate transactions, or establishing a trust or foundation to secure family wealth and manage succession, our expertise ensures every solution is strategically designed, compliant, and built to endure.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
