by Shaji Mathew and Nishant Kumar

Hamilton Lane Inc. and two Hong Kong-based hedge fund firms are expanding to Dubai, joining a rush of global peers setting up offices in the Middle Eastern city.

Pennsylvania-based Hamilton Lane, with nearly $950 billion under management and supervision, secured a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority last month, according to the regulator’s records. The firm’s chief financial officer, Jeffrey Armbrister, is among the executives registered as senior managers of the unit.

Macro hedge fund Welwing Capital received a license last week, part of a growing trend of Asian investment outfits looking to join their western peers in Dubai. Dymon Asia Capital and Alp Ercil’s Asia Research & Capital Management have expanded to the emirate, Bloomberg News reported earlier.

Joining that cohort is Jetha Global. The tech-focused hedge fund is moving its operations from Hong Kong to Dubai and hopes to finish that process by March, according to a person familiar with the matter. The fund — started by Karan Danthi, a former senior partner at Tybourne Capital — made an estimated 38% last year, according to an investor letter seen by Bloomberg.

Representatives for Hamilton Lane, Welwing and Jetha declined to comment. 

The influx of some of the world’s biggest asset managers and hedge funds, such as Millennium Management and Balyasny Asset Management, has pushed the industry’s headcount in Dubai to over 1,000. 

Dubai, and neighboring Abu Dhabi, are emerging as serious competitors to financial hubs like London and Hong Kong, leveraging the United Arab Emirates’ tax-free status, favorable time zones and deep-pocketed sovereign wealth funds.