Alexandre Tausch, an analyst at Citadel in London, is making the kind of move that hundreds of other hedge fund professionals in Mayfair have placed at the top of their bucket lists. Tausch is moving to rival fund, Balyasny Asset Management, in Dubai. 

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Tausch didn’t respond to a request to comment for this article, but he isn’t the only one. Balynasy now has seven portfolio managers in Dubai, according to a presentation from August. This is fewer than the 10 it aspired to two years ago, but more than the three it had last time we looked. Funds like BlueCrest, ExodusPoint, BlueCrest and Brevan Howard have also grown their presence in the Middle East. Mike Platt, BlueCrest founder, moved his main residence to the UAE earlier this year.

Speaking off the record, London’s hedge fund headhunters say almost all their incoming calls are now from people who want to get out of the UK. “Everyone wants to go to Dubai and Switzerland,” says one. “It’s for tax reasons. They are the locations I’m asked about all the time, and they are super, popular with people.” .

Last year, the Dubai hedge fund population was calculated at 1,000 people. One portfolio manager on his way to the UAE says people have been encouraged to leave by reports that Reeves was considering a tax on wealthy individuals leaving the UK. “People are 100% afraid of an exit tax,” he says. “There’s also an element of FOMO – no one wants to be the last to leave London.” 

There are alternatives. Milan has attracted London hedge fund managers with a generous tax regime for expats, although this may soon be coming to an end. The Greek tax system can be generous for expats; so can Denmark’s. 

Leaving the UK is not for everyone, though. One ex-banking MD who moved to Italy says it’s hard on families, as wives and children often stay behind. “You either need very young children, or children who’ve grown up,” says one headhunter. New York portfolio managers are delaying moves to Miami for the same reason.

Hedge fund jobs in the Middle East can, however, be unusually brutal. One portfolio manager who’s moving says he paid very careful attention to the “people and culture” at the office he’s going to. “You need a solid group of people when you’re going to somewhere like the Middle East, because the culture there is very different.” 

Today’s budget will not be the last word on exits from the UK. One senior trader observes that the UK faces multiple issues. “COVID spending, energy prices, defence budgets, tariffs and difficulties cutting social welfare,” he says. “But then, these are issues everywhere, so taxes will rise across Europe.”

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