Across parts of the Middle East, there is a growing sense that daily life is beginning to find its rhythm once again. Schools, offices, communities and international travel links are gradually regaining momentum, although the recent period has been deeply challenging for many across the region.
For those of us who work closely with the Middle East, this moment is not simply about the resumption of activity. It is about reconnection, listening and reaffirming long-standing relationships with respect and care.
Guernsey’s relationship with the Middle East is long‑standing and shaped by years of close collaboration. Families, entrepreneurs and institutions across the region have worked with Guernsey for decades, particularly in the areas of private wealth and investment funds. These relationships matter, particularly during periods of uncertainty, and Guernsey remains committed to supporting clients and professional partners across the region as conversations begin to move forward again.
Recent events have understandably prompted many to pause and review whether their existing wealth structuring arrangements continue to support their mobility, succession and cross‑border decision‑making requirements. In this environment, looking beyond the region for certain structuring elements can add flexibility, clarity and continuity.
Guernsey offers Sharia-compliant wealth planning, with frameworks that support family governance, inter‑generational planning and international asset holding while remaining aligned with advisers and intermediaries across multiple jurisdictions.
Alongside this, Guernsey’s fund structures continue to serve as a conduit for international capital into the Middle East. Supported by service providers with experience of aligning investments with Islamic principles, these structures enable capital to be pooled and deployed efficiently into regional opportunities. From private investment funds to bespoke family and co‑investment arrangements, Guernsey funds offer a familiar international framework, helping managers and sponsors operate with clarity whilst supporting governance, transparency and long‑term investment objectives.
Working with trusted jurisdictions and structures enables a continuity of approach following a period of uncertainty – and for advisers and clients in the region, this familiarity matters now more than ever.
The coming months also offer a chance to reconnect in person. Meetings, conferences and roundtables that were placed on pause are now being picked up again later in 2026. These events provide a valuable forum to resume face‑to‑face discussions, exchange perspectives and deepen professional relationships.
I am looking forward to attending several conferences and roadshows in the final quarter of this year – a promising sign of the return to the influx of activity that typically follows the quieter summer months as residents travel abroad to escape the heat.
I will be spending time in both Singapore and Dubai around the STEP Asia and STEP Global Conferences, with private wealth roadshows providing a chance to extend those discussions beyond the conference setting. Alongside this, a funds-focused roadshow will take place around the Dubai FinTech Summit, with a series of other events offering a valuable forum to exchange perspectives with advisers, investors and those shaping the future of private wealth and investment.
Above all, I look forward to reinforcing Guernsey’s long‑term commitment to working alongside our counterparts in the Middle East. That commitment does not change as circumstances evolve; it is rooted in consistency, openness and mutual understanding.
As the region looks ahead, this feels like a constructive moment to reconnect, revisit priorities and continue conversations with colleagues and contacts across the region with care, respect and optimism for the future, and hopefully, forge new connections too.
