The (ultra) rich get (ultra) richer: The wealth controlled by ultra-rich families is expected to hit USD 9.5 tn by 2030, up 73% from today’s USD 5.5 tn, Bloomberg reports, citing estimates from consultancy Deloitte. Family offices — private investment firms for the wealthy — are growing fast, with their numbers projected to rise by one-third to over 10.7k over the same period.

What’s driving the growth? Wealth inequality is concentrating “more money in the hands of the very rich,” while it is increasingly becoming easier to set up family offices, the newswire reports. More family offices are popping up, and some are rivaling hedge funds in size and talent. These firms are taking on bigger roles in markets with some acting as activist investors.

Uh, Enterprise, what are activist investors? Activist investors are shareholders who use their equity stake to influence a company's operations, often pushing for changes to increase shareholder value.

Most family offices are small but mighty: The average family office manages some USD 2 bn with just 15 employees, and one-third of these firms are run by someone outside the family, according to the Deloitte report. “It can definitely be risky managing that much wealth,” Rebecca Gooch, global head of insights for Deloitte Private said. “Family offices really need to be careful about who they bring on board,” she added.

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are mixed again this morning in early trading, with the ASX 200 up factionally, the Shanghai Composite and Nikkei basically flat, and the Kospi down a bit over 1%.

Major European benchmarks we follow look set to face a bit of selling pressure at the opening bell, catching up to the losses posted yesterday by the S&P and the Dow, while US equities futures are largely unchanged as traders look forward to today’s big American jobs report.

ADX

9,477

+1.2% (YTD: -1.1%)

DFM

4,371

+0.1% (YTD: +7.7%)

Nasdaq Dubai UAE20

3,847

+0.7% (YTD: 0.1%)

USD : AED CBUAE

Buy 3.67

Sell 3.67

EIBOR

5.0% o/n

4.3% 1 yr

TASI

12,099

-0.2% (YTD: +1.1%)

EGX30

31,029

+0.1% (YTD: +24.7%)

S&P 500

5,503

-0.3% (YTD: 15.4%)

FTSE 100

8,241

-0.3% (YTD: +6.6%)

Euro Stoxx 50

4,815

-0.7% (YTD: +6.5%)

Brent crude

USD 72.69

0.0%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.26

0.0%

Gold

USD 2,547.30

+4.2%

BTC

USD 56,194.45

-3.16% (YTD: +33.0%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The DFM rose 0.1% yesterday on turnover of AED 354.2 mn. The index is up 7.7% YTD.

In the green: International Financial Advisors (+15.0%), Dubai Taxi Company (+6.2%) and Union Properties (+2.3%).

In the red: Dubai Refreshment Company (-10.0%), Depa Limited (-9.1%) and National General Ins. Company (-6.0%).

Over on the ADX, the index rose 1.2% on turnover of AED 1.3 bn. Meanwhile Nasdaq Dubai closed up 0.7%.

CORPORATE ACTIONS

#1- Bildco hits big restructuring milestone: The Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials secured a court order that removes all foreclosures by First Abu Dhabi Bank and Emirates NBD on its assets, properties, and bank accounts, clearing a key obstacle in its turnaround plan, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf).

#2- Agility Global subsidiary, Tristar, is considering the sale of a company stake to boost shareholder value and is consulting with advisors, according to an ADXdisclosure (pdf).

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