Global hedge fund LMR to open Dubai office

LMR Partners, a $9.8 billion hedge fund, is opening an office in Dubai, expanding into a country that has become the single biggest destination for expatriate millionaires.

The London-based firm secured a licence from Dubai International Financial Centre and will start with six people, according to a person familiar with the matter. LMR is taking space in the ICD Brookfield Place and its office has room for between 25 and 30 people, the person said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. Half of its employees in Dubai are new hires, while the rest — including portfolio managers Iain Raskin and Sebastian Gorga who were based in Hong Kong — are relocating from other offices, the person said. The emirate is seen as a more convenient time zone for some of its portfolio managers who trade globally, the person said.