Family office

Family office cost in Dubai (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi (ADGM), 2026

What a family office costs in Dubai or Abu Dhabi: own office, hybrid or multi-family office, line by line, with sources.

Sources read on 25 October 2026.

Worked examples

Three typical cases, worked out with this calculator's own rules. Reliefs it does not model are left out.

UBS average, USD 150 millionComputed by this calculatorAssumptionsUBS 2025 survey, USD 100 to 250 million band.Result627,000 USD a year (41.8 bps), of which 357,390 USD for the office itself.Legal basisUBS Global Family Office Report 2025, pp. 53 to 54
Own office in DIFC, six peopleComputed by this calculatorAssumptionsUSD 300 million; head, CIO, analyst, finance controller, accountant, assistant.Result1,250,700 to 2,449,900 USD a year (41.7 to 81.7 bps), legal and tax advice not included.Legal basisCaelius cost grid, 25 October 2026; DIFC Family Office handbook 2026
ADGM vehiclesComputed by this calculatorAssumptionsOffice entity, three SPVs, one foundation.Result12,300 USD to set up, then 10,000 USD a year in ADGM fees.Legal basisADGM Schedule of Fees, January 2025

Family office cost simulator, DIFC and ADGM

One family, three ways to run its office. Change the team or any amount; every figure shows its source.

The family and the vehicle
The team of the single family office

Example team. Tick the roles kept in-house in the hybrid model.

Amounts used (open to adjust)

USD a year, all-in cost per person. Type an amount to replace a line.

Team, per person

Services and premises

Fees on assets

First-year set-up

Annual cost by model

DIFC fees for foundations and SPVs, and the DIFC net asset threshold, are not shown: they have not been compiled from an official DIFC source.

Single family office

1,250,700 USD to 2,449,900 USD

a year, 41.7 bps to 81.7 bps of assets

Priced lines only. Not included: Legal and tax advisers, SPVs and holding companies, registration, Foundations, registration.

  • Head of family office412,600 to 725,000Caelius
  • Chief investment officer371,400 to 855,900Caelius
  • Investment analyst71,400 to 144,100Caelius
  • Finance controller148,500 to 235,100Caelius
  • Accountant46,300 to 82,200Caelius
  • Executive assistant83,200 to 140,000Caelius
  • Office space, per desk65,400 to 124,800Caelius
  • IT and cybersecurity, per person3,000 to 7,200Caelius
  • Consolidated reporting software30,000 to 70,000Caelius
  • External audit2,700 to 13,600Caelius
  • Legal and tax advisersNot priced yet
  • Insurance (D&O, professional liability)4,200 to 40,000Caelius
  • Family office entity, registration12,000official
  • SPVs and holding companies, registrationNot priced yet
  • Foundations, registrationNot priced yet

Hybrid

572,100 USD to 1,054,400 USD

a year, 19.1 bps to 35.1 bps of assets

Priced lines only. Not included: Legal and tax advisers, Outsourced investment advice (bps of assets), SPVs and holding companies, registration, Foundations, registration.

  • Head of family office412,600 to 725,000Caelius
  • Executive assistant83,200 to 140,000Caelius
  • Office space, per desk21,800 to 41,600Caelius
  • IT and cybersecurity, per person1,000 to 2,400Caelius
  • Consolidated reporting software30,000 to 70,000Caelius
  • External audit2,700 to 13,600Caelius
  • Legal and tax advisersNot priced yet
  • Insurance (D&O, professional liability)4,200 to 40,000Caelius
  • Outsourced accounting and reporting4,600 to 9,800Caelius
  • Outsourced investment advice (bps of assets)Not priced yet
  • Family office entity, registration12,000official
  • SPVs and holding companies, registrationNot priced yet
  • Foundations, registrationNot priced yet

Multi-family office

1,502,700 USD to 4,513,600 USD

a year, 50.1 bps to 150.4 bps of assets

Priced lines only. Not included: SPVs and holding companies, registration, Foundations, registration.

  • Multi-family office fee (bps of assets)1,500,000 to 4,500,000Caelius
  • External audit2,700 to 13,600Caelius
  • SPVs and holding companies, registrationNot priced yet
  • Foundations, registrationNot priced yet

One-off cost of the first year, single family office

400,700 USD to 1,095,600 USD

Priced lines only. Not included: Systems set-up, SPVs and holding companies, registration, Foundations, registration.

Recruitment fees are applied to the all-in cost of the roles hired, while recruiters charge them on first-year pay: an upper bound.

Assets at which the single family office costs the same as the multi-family office fee

83,400,000 USD to 490,000,000 USD

Priced lines only. Not included: Legal and tax advisers, SPVs and holding companies, registration, Foundations, registration.

Benchmark: UBS Global Family Office Report 2025

Survey average for this size of family1,272,000 USD, 42.4 bps
of which pure office cost (staff, premises, IT, legal), 57%725,040 USD, 24.2 bps

The survey figure also includes asset management and banking: compare the totals above with the office cost line. 317 family offices, 2025.

Not included: fees of external asset managers and banks, investment performance, taxes, travel and the family's own staff (household, aviation, yachts).

Sources

Nothing you enter is stored, sent or logged. The whole calculation runs in your browser.

In short

A single family office in DIFC with six people costs 1 250 700 to 2 449 900 dollars a year on the Caelius cost grid of 25 October 2026, before recurring legal and tax advice, plus 8 000 dollars to incorporate and 12 000 dollars a year for the DIFC licence. For comparison, family offices surveyed by UBS expected to spend 41.8 to 42.4 basis points of assets a year in 2025 between USD 100 million and 1 billion.

Run the family office cost calculatorAll calculators and country guides

Sources read on 25 October 2026.

Key figures

  • Own office in DIFC with six people: 1 250 700 to 2 449 900 dollars a year (Caelius cost grid, 25 October 2026), recurring legal and tax advice not included.
  • DIFC fees: 8 000 dollars to set up the family office, 12 000 dollars a year for the licence.
  • ADGM fees: 5 600 dollars to set up a single family office, 5 300 dollars a year; the family needs at least USD 10 million of net assets.
  • Head of family office in the UAE: 412 600 to 725 000 dollars a year all in; chief investment officer: 371 400 to 855 900 dollars.
  • UBS 2025 survey of 317 family offices: 41.8 to 42.4 basis points of assets a year up to USD 1 billion, 35.5 above; 57 per cent of that is the office itself.

Three ways to run the same family office

A single family office employs its own team: a head of office, investment staff, finance and administration. The family controls everything and pays for everything, whatever the year.

A hybrid keeps a small core in-house, usually the head of office and an assistant, and buys the rest: accounting and reporting, compliance and investment advice. A multi-family office replaces the team with a fee on assets, usually with a minimum; the family keeps its own vehicles and their audit.

The simulator prices the three models on the same inputs, so that the difference between them is visible line by line rather than as one headline number.

Where the figures come from

Three sources, never mixed. Official fees come from the free zone: ADGM publishes its incorporation and renewal fees; DIFC fees were not read on an official DIFC page and are not shown. The benchmark comes from the UBS Global Family Office Report 2025, a survey, and is labelled as such. Salaries, provider fees and premises come from the Caelius cost grid, compiled on 25 October 2026 from published salary guides, recruiter and provider prices and property reports; each line names its sources below. Recurring legal and tax advice, outsourced investment advice and systems set-up have no published UAE figure: they are left out until one is found.

A line without an amount is listed as not priced and left out of the total. The calculator never fills a gap with an estimate. You can type your own amount on any line, and the result says which lines use your figures.

Reading the result

The UBS figure covers everything a family office spends, including asset management and banking fees. The bottom-up models cover the office itself. Compare them with the UBS line for the pure office cost, 57 per cent of the total, not with the full survey figure.

The break-even line gives the level of assets at which the single family office costs the same as the multi-family office fee. Below it, the fee is cheaper on these inputs; above it, the in-house team is. Cost is only one side of that choice: control, confidentiality and the family's own governance weigh as much.

Annual all-in cost per person, UAE, USD
ItemDIFCADGM
Head of family office412 600 to 725 000412 600 to 725 000
Chief investment officer371 400 to 855 900371 400 to 855 900
Investment analyst71 400 to 144 10071 400 to 144 100
Finance controller148 500 to 235 100148 500 to 235 100
Accountant46 300 to 82 20046 300 to 82 200
Legal and compliance officer98 400 to 214 20098 400 to 214 200
Executive assistant83 200 to 140 00083 200 to 140 000
Lifestyle manager79 700 to 140 00079 700 to 140 000

Caelius cost grid, 25 October 2026, compiled from published salary guides, recruiter and provider prices and property reports. All-in cost: 12 months of fixed pay, bonus, end-of-service gratuity, medical insurance and visa.

Services, premises and fees, USD a year
ItemDIFCADGM
Office space, per desk10 900 to 20 8007 100 to 13 300
Consolidated reporting software30 000 to 70 00030 000 to 70 000
Insurance (D&O, professional liability)4 200 to 40 0004 200 to 40 000
External audit2 700 to 13 6002 700 to 13 600
IT and cybersecurity, per person500 to 1 200500 to 1 200
Outsourced accounting and reporting (Caelius adjustment)4 600 to 9 8004 600 to 9 800
Outsourced compliance49 00049 000
Multi-family office minimum fee100 000 to 200 000100 000 to 200 000

Caelius cost grid, 25 October 2026, compiled from published salary guides, recruiter and provider prices and property reports. All-in cost: 12 months of fixed pay, bonus, end-of-service gratuity, medical insurance and visa.

Download the cost grid (CSV) · Download its sources (CSV)

Frequently asked questions

› How much does a family office cost in Dubai?

On the Caelius cost grid of 25 October 2026, a single family office in DIFC with six people costs 1 250 700 to 2 449 900 dollars a year, before recurring legal and tax advice. DIFC charges 8 000 dollars to incorporate the family office and 12 000 dollars a year for the licence. Staff are most of the cost: a head of office alone costs 412 600 to 725 000 dollars a year all in.

› What does a family office team cost in the UAE?

All-in annual cost per person on the Caelius cost grid: head of family office 412 600 to 725 000 dollars, chief investment officer 371 400 to 855 900, finance controller 148 500 to 235 100, investment analyst 71 400 to 144 100. All-in means fixed pay, bonus, end-of-service gratuity, medical insurance and visa.

› How much does a family office cost to run each year?

In the UBS Global Family Office Report 2025, family offices expected operating costs in 2025 of 41.8 basis points of assets between USD 100 million and 250 million, 42.4 between 251 million and 1 billion, and 35.5 above 1 billion. About 57 per cent of that is the office itself; the rest is asset management, banking and external structures.

› What does it cost to set up a single family office in ADGM?

ADGM charges 5 600 dollars to incorporate a single family office and 5 300 dollars a year to renew it, with no minimum capital, for a family with net assets of at least USD 10 million. Foundations and SPVs used under the office have their own ADGM fees. Legal, recruitment and office costs come on top.

› When is a single family office cheaper than a multi-family office?

When the cost of the in-house team, premises and services is lower than the multi-family office fee on the family's assets. The calculator shows that break-even level of assets for the inputs you choose; it depends on the team and on the fee, so there is no single threshold that holds for every family.

Sources

Survey figures are labelled as such. Fees are those published by the free zone on the date shown.

Caelius cost grid, compiled 25 October 2026

General information for planning. It does not take account of any particular situation, and actual costs depend on the team, the providers and the family's requirements.

Compare countries: Inheritance tax for non-residents, by country, 2026

Structuring the estate

Other jurisdictions

Switzerland

Gift and inheritance tax

Calculator

France

Gift and inheritance tax

Calculator

United Arab Emirates

Succession, wills and guardianship

Guide

United States

Estate tax on a nonresident's US assets

Calculator

United Kingdom

Inheritance tax, residence based regime

Calculator

Japan

Inheritance tax, residents and non-residents

Calculator

South Korea

Inheritance tax, resident or non-resident deceased

Calculator

Australia

Super and capital gains at death

Calculator

Russia

Notary duty and tax on gifts

Calculator

China

Deed tax and income tax on a home

Calculator

Singapore

Stamp duty and succession

Calculator

India

Tax on gifts from non-relatives

Calculator

All calculators and country guides, by region