Noble declined to give details about how the business was changing, but said the changes were part of an expansion into new areas, and were not, as some local rumours have suggested, an indication that the company was closing down.
“We’re moving offices, and because we are, a few people are making this rumour up,” Noble said, adding that he believes rival advisory firms are behind the rumours.
“It’s a load of rubbish. In Dubai, there are three areas you’re allowed to be in, and in each of these, you basically have to set up a different company. We’re in the process of changing our licence from one area to another, so we’re having to shut one company down in the one area and open another one in the other area.
Some people are using this to say we have gone out of business, but we haven’t. In actual fact, we are expanding at the moment, and taking on staff.”
In addition, Noble said the company is also “looking to open in a new market before the start of the last quarter”, but he did not give further details.
Another new business at One International involves helping non-Europeans with investment structures that can lead to the obtaining of a European passport, a service that has appeal for wealthy individuals whose current passports make international travel difficult, or who are from politically unstable countries.
Noble, who first came to the Gulf six years ago, founded One International in 2010, after working for a number of other IFA groups in the UAE. In an interview last year, he told International Adviser that the company had ambitious expansion plans, as it looked to establish itself among expatriates and international investors in the Gulf and Africa.
In November, the company announced that it had acquired a South African IFA firm, Sterling Alliance Financial Services, which gave One International a foothold in Cape Town.
At that time, Noble also spoke of a campaign by his competitors to discredit One International, sparked on that occasion by the departure of some advisers from his Dubai office.
The One International website, which recently changed to a new URL, may be viewed by clicking here.
