Varenne Capital opens Dubai base for regional push

Varenne Capital Partners has opened a Dubai International Financial Centre office, giving the Paris-based investment manager a regulated foothold in the Emirates as global asset managers deepen their presence in the Gulf’s expanding financial hub.

The new entity, Varenne Capital Ltd, is a wholly owned UAE subsidiary regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The move marks the firm’s first regional base after building its business across Europe and positions it closer to institutional investors, private wealth networks and family offices using Dubai as a gateway to markets across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

The Dubai office will be led by Giacomo de Nardis, Senior Executive Officer and Director of Varenne Capital Ltd. De Nardis has spent more than 15 years at Varenne and has been closely involved in the firm’s investment process, making him the senior figure chosen to represent the manager in its next phase of international expansion.

Giuseppe Perrone, co-founder and President of Varenne Capital Partners, said the DIFC offered “the energy, the talent, and the connections” needed for the firm’s growth. He said de Nardis’s tenure and investment experience made him “the ideal person to represent the firm in its new chapter”.

De Nardis said Dubai had established itself as one of the world’s most dynamic financial ecosystems, citing its pool of talent, technological depth and ambition. His appointment reflects Varenne’s attempt to embed senior investment experience in the region rather than treat the office only as a representative outpost.

Founded in 2003 by its current management team, Varenne Capital Partners is an independent, employee-owned investment manager based in Paris. The firm describes its approach as research-led and process-driven, with a focus on global developed market equities. Its investment frameworks cover long equities, short equities, merger arbitrage and tail-risk hedging, combined in strategies with varying levels of targeted net equity exposure.

The firm had $2.6 billion in assets under management at the end of 2025. It is authorised and regulated by France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers and is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an Exempt Reporting Adviser. The regulatory layering gives the Dubai entity a bridge between European oversight, US reporting status and DIFC’s financial services regime.

Varenne’s arrival comes as DIFC continues to gain ground as a preferred base for asset managers, hedge funds, banks, insurers and private wealth advisers. The centre recorded 8,844 active registered companies in 2025, including 1,052 regulated firms. Wealth and asset management entities exceeded 500, while hedge fund managers crossed the 100 mark, underlining Dubai’s growing appeal to global investment firms seeking access to regional capital and mobile private wealth.

DIFC’s broader ecosystem has also been expanding beyond traditional finance. Its workforce reached 50,200 in 2025, while AI, FinTech and innovation-focused firms rose to 1,677. Family-related entities climbed to 1,289, helped by demand from globally mobile entrepreneurs and wealthy families seeking succession, governance and investment structures in a jurisdiction built around English common law principles and independent courts.

The Gulf has become a more competitive arena for global money managers as sovereign wealth funds, family offices and institutional investors increase allocations to public markets, private credit, infrastructure, technology and alternative strategies. Dubai has benefited from that shift by offering regulatory clarity, tax efficiency, international connectivity and proximity to pools of capital across the Gulf and wider emerging markets.

For Varenne, the expansion provides a platform to build relationships with professional investors in a market where demand for differentiated equity strategies, downside-risk management and multi-framework investment processes has grown. The firm’s emphasis on proprietary research and formalised processes may help it appeal to allocators seeking disciplined exposure to developed-market equities at a time of heightened market volatility and changing interest-rate expectations.

Salmaan Jaffery, Chief Business Development Officer at DIFC Authority, welcomed the firm’s entry, saying its decision to establish operations in the centre highlighted DIFC’s standing among internationally regulated financial firms. He said Varenne’s track record and investment approach would add expertise to the centre’s asset-management community.