Global research firm Morningstar has opened its first Mena office in Dubai, Mena FM can exclusively reveal.

The firm will base itself in the DIFC, with former Morningstar France sales director Reza Yazdi taking the helm. Yazdi told Mena FM the firm is opening the office to be closer to its Middle Eastern client base, which includes some of the local SWFs. “We are coming to the region because we want to work closely with our clients,” he said. “We think there are great opportunities there and we want to serve them locally.”

The firm provides data, research and technology to individual investors and financial advisers, and covers more than 330,000 investment vehicles globally. Yazdi described Mena as a “growth market” and added that the company would not rule out launching more regional offices in the future. “Dubai will be the first office in the region and we’re very excited about it actually,” he said. “We’ve been evaluating different areas around the world where we aren’t located currently and we’re always looking at where there is a need.”