Glossary

Terms used in family office and corporate structuring

The words that come up when a family sets up in the UAE, explained in plain English. For answers to the most common questions, see the FAQ.

Family structures

Single family office: A company that manages the wealth of one family. In DIFC and ADGM, a family office that serves only its own family does not need a financial services licence. ADGM accepts one from USD 10 million in total family net assets, and DIFC from USD 50 million.
Multi-family office: A firm that manages the wealth of several families. Because it serves more than one family, it is a regulated financial business and needs a licence from the regulator in the centre where it operates.
Family foundation: A legal entity with its own assets and a charter, set up to hold a family's wealth for its beneficiaries. DIFC and ADGM both have foundation laws. A foundation often owns the assets while the family office runs them, and its charter sets how they pass between generations.
Holding company: A company whose purpose is to own other companies or assets, such as properties or shares in operating businesses. It keeps ownership in one place, and assets can change hands through a transfer of shares rather than of the assets themselves.
Ultimate beneficial owner: The person who ultimately owns or controls a company, directly or through other entities. UAE companies must keep a register of their ultimate beneficial owners, generally anyone holding 25% or more, and file it with their registrar.

Places and regulators

DIFC: The Dubai International Financial Centre, a financial free zone in Dubai with its own common law system and its own courts, which work in English.
ADGM: Abu Dhabi Global Market, the financial free zone in Abu Dhabi. It applies English common law directly and has its own courts, which work in English.
DFSA: The Dubai Financial Services Authority, which regulates financial services in DIFC.
FSRA: The Financial Services Regulatory Authority, which regulates financial services in ADGM.
Free zone: An economic zone with its own authority and licences, where a company can be fully foreign-owned. DIFC, ADGM and RAKEZ are free zones, each with its own rules.
RAKEZ: The Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone, the free zone authority in Ras Al Khaimah that licenses Ashmont Pinnacle Advisory.

Tax

Corporate tax: The UAE federal tax on business profits, in force since 2023: 0% on taxable profit up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it.
Qualifying free zone person: A free zone company that meets the conditions to pay 0% corporate tax on its qualifying income. The conditions include adequate substance in the free zone, qualifying activities and audited accounts. A company that fails a condition pays the standard rate.
Substance: Real activity in the place where a company is registered: people, premises and spending in proportion to what it does. Tax authorities look for it before they accept that a company is based where it says it is.
Tax-transparent foundation: A family foundation that the Federal Tax Authority has approved to be treated as transparent for corporate tax. It pays no corporate tax itself, and its income is treated as the family's own.

Investing

Asset allocation: How a portfolio is divided between asset classes such as equities, bonds, cash, private equity and real estate. The strategic allocation is the long-term target, and it is reviewed rather than changed often.
Asset manager: A firm that invests other people's money for a fee. In property, it buys buildings on behalf of its clients and usually holds them inside a private fund that it runs. It earns a management fee and often a share of the profit.
Co-investment: A purchase made jointly by several investors, often families or family offices, each taking a share of one asset or one deal. Each keeps a direct say in that single investment, which a fund does not offer.
Private real estate fund: A pool of money from several investors that a manager uses to buy and run properties, without a listing on a stock exchange. A closed-ended fund raises money once and returns it when the properties are sold, usually after several years. An open-ended fund accepts new money over time and lets investors withdraw at set dates, often with limits. In both, the value comes from periodic valuations.
Real estate investment trust (REIT): A company or trust that owns a portfolio of income-producing buildings, with its units traded on a stock exchange. Investors earn dividends paid from the rent, plus any change in the unit price, which also moves with the stock market every day. Dubai Residential REIT, listed on the Dubai Financial Market in May 2025 with about 35,700 homes, is the local example.
REIT units: The shares in a REIT, held electronically in an account with a broker. Each unit is a small part of the whole REIT, not of a particular building.

All insights