Welfare Group today welcomed the launch of WELF’s regulated UAE wealth advisory platform, marking a significant milestone for one of its portfolio companies. WELF Advisory Limited has been authorised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) as a Category 3C firm, with permissions to manage assets, arrange investments, advise on financial products, and arrange and advise on credit and custody.
Operating from its global headquarters in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), WELF is building a relationship-led, open-architecture wealth management platform designed to serve the increasingly mobile, cross-border client base that Welfare Group sees as a defining feature of the next decade of private wealth. The DFSA authorisation provides the institutional-grade governance framework on which WELF will scale its advisory, family office and cross-border structuring capabilities.
“We’ve seen a fundamental shift in how wealth moves globally. Clients are no longer anchored to a single geography but are increasingly international in their lives, assets, and ambitions. This has created a surge in demand for truly cross-border, personalised advice, as we are experiencing ourselves in the many inquiries we are getting. As capital is flowing freely in both directions, from West to East and East to West, our next logical step this year is to expand our fully licensed operations into the EU with a base in the Netherlands, and we’re also seriously considering a move into Asia Pacific in order to provide the best possible end-to-end and joined up service for the truly global citizen.”
— Christoph Tunkl, CEO of WELF, said:
“WELF is exactly the kind of business we are proud to back: a credible challenger to a wealth management industry that has lost much of its human touch at precisely the moment clients’ lives have become more international and more complex. Christoph and his team are rebuilding the category from first principles: relationship-led, open-architecture, tightly regulated, and unafraid to question how things have always been done. Securing a DFSA Category 3C licence is a major milestone, but for us the more important point is what it enables: a platform with the governance and ambition to scale into the EU, Asia and beyond, on the client’s terms rather than the industry’s.”
— Alex Ingswersen, Co-Founder and Deputy Chairman of Welfare Group, added:
About WELF
WELF is a global private wealth partner supporting high-net-worth individuals and families in growing, protecting, and managing their wealth through highly personalised, long-term strategies. Blending the discipline of traditional finance with innovative and cross-border solutions, WELF delivers bespoke wealth management solutions focused on prosperity, legacy, lifestyle, and fulfilment. WELF offers an integrated wealth management and family office-style holistic approach, combining core investment and advisory capabilities with broader group expertise, including cross-border wealth and corporate structuring, tax optimisation coordination, residency and migration support, succession planning, and governance frameworks. All WELF operations are backed by robust governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance procedures.