BAHRAIN THE DESTINATION OF CHOICE FOR THE FAIRWAY GROUP

With a keen focus on providing the best for their clients, it is clear to see why the Fairway Group chose the high-ranking hotspot of Bahrain for their new office locale. Stephen Penn spoke to regional manager, Graeme Fairlie, to find out more

When searching for the highest quality of life, Bahrain is scoring top marks in almost all categories. In fact, the Kingdom in the Persian Gulf has been named the best place to live for the second year in a row, according to the 2018 Expat Insider survey.

This top ranking is just one of the reason why the Fairway Group – a company which offers trusts, pensions and fund structures – chose it to play host to the first office outside its Jersey headquarters, in addition to its extensive experience in the region creating strong partnerships with Emirates NBD.

Quality of life

The survey rated Bahrain second out of 68 for friendliness, finding friends, and first for feeling at home by over 18,000 expatriates. Many respondents in Bahrain give their working hours (44%), job security (33%), or overall job satisfaction (39%) the best possible rating, pushing the Gulf State to the top of the Working Abroad Index too.

All of these positive notes are the reason why the new Fairway Group office is located on Floor 29 of the iconic United Tower in Manama Bay, under the guidance of Regional Manager, Graeme Fairlie. No stranger to the area having been born in the Gulf and grown up in Lebanon, Bahrain and Dubai, Graeme will be looking to build on the already strong ties between the GCC and Jersey.

“We see Bahrain as a business-friendly, competitive landscape which is the perfect place for us to build our presence in the Gulf,” he explains. “The next generation of Arabic wealth owners are looking for solutions for succession planning, guaranteeing the family legacy for years to come.

“We are seeing increased interest in highly regulated international finance centres like Jersey, in order provide additional comfort outside the Gulf.”

Strong Ties

The new office is the perfect complement to their existing headquarters in Jersey – which is positioned to provide bespoke structuring for wealth management, being less than hour from London and Paris by plane.

The Island, just 19 miles from the French coast, is part of the British Isles but outside the European Union making it a unique international finance centre for trust and fund structures.

“Fairway have been managing wealth on behalf of international clients from Jersey for nearly two decades,” Graeme adds. “By choosing Bahrain as our next step, we is looking forward to the next twenty years and beyond.”

Fairway Group is a registered business name of Fairway Trust Limited, Fairway Fund Trustee Services Limited, Fairway Fund Services Limited and Fairway Pension Trustees Limited. Regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission ("JFSC").