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Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, TEP, FIMC, is Chairman at Henley & Partners.
Forward-thinking nations are building sovereign equity through dialogue with global investors, transforming citizenship to partnership.
The concept of sovereign equity, which I introduced at Davos in 2020, proposed that investment migration creates mutual value through a new partnership between individuals and nation-states. States offer enhanced global mobility and security, while investors inject debt-free capital that generates sovereign and societal value. As the 2026 World Economic Forum convenes again in Davos under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue”, this framework has moved from novel concept to essential strategy for nations navigating an increasingly fractured world.
The acceleration of global wealth mobility reflects shifts in how successful individuals and sovereign states interact. For individuals, building ‘sovereign portfolios’ — diversified residence and citizenship rights across multiple jurisdictions — has become essential risk management. Wealthy families now evaluate countries as partners in securing their futures, seeking institutional resilience, strong business environments, and governments willing to engage in genuine dialogue about shared prosperity. Meanwhile, forward-thinking nations have moved beyond viewing investment migration merely as a revenue mechanism, recognizing it instead as a pathway to attract the talent, networks, and capital essential for competitiveness in the twenty-first century.
These shifts accelerate against deepening global fractures. Wars, trade disruption, great-power rivalry, and polarized immigration debates push individuals and states to seek new models of engagement.
The European Union’s irrational view on investment migration represents a profound strategic error. Many member-state governments nevertheless maintain or expand their programs because the benefits are clear and risks limited. While Singapore, the USA, the UAE, and other forward-thinking countries embrace dialogue with global wealth, Brussels clings to an obsolete conception of false nationalism, even though Europe urgently needs foreign direct investment.
Consider the contrast: Singapore hosts some 1,400 family offices through deliberate consultation with wealth holders, and the UAE has transformed itself into a global wealth hub through systematic engagement with investors as partners in national development. Meanwhile, Europe tightens restrictions and watches millionaires and other highly productive people depart.
The European Court of Justice’s ruling last year against Malta’s citizenship by investment program exemplifies this shortsightedness. Despite precedent supporting national sovereignty in citizenship matters, the court chose political expediency over juridical consistency, signaling to global investors that Europe prioritizes bureaucracy and politicized judgments over legal certainty and economic dynamism.
Investment migration, properly conceived, represents the purest form of sovereign equity creation. Unlike debt financing, which burdens future generations, or taxation, which extracts from existing residents, it brings fresh capital, expertise, and networks that benefit entire societies. Programs generate immediate liquidity for governments while creating employment, spurring innovation, and enhancing competitiveness.
From the private wealth perspective, ‘sovereign portfolios’ provide optionality in an uncertain world. Families diversify sovereign relationships much as they diversify financial assets, using different jurisdictions for mobility, education, lifestyle, taxation, or market access. These are active strategies for global engagement.
The most successful programs recognize this multi-dimensional value. Singapore’s Global Investor Program requires substantial business track records and ongoing commercial engagement, attracting entrepreneurs and family offices that bring expertise and networks. The UAE’s Golden Visa has evolved into a broader engagement platform linking visa holders to investment opportunities and business ecosystems. Attracting wealth requires not only incentives but world-class infrastructure, regulatory excellence, and genuine partnership between government and private capital.
Modern sovereignty cannot be understood apart from mobility. States that restrict movement restrict their own potential; those that facilitate circulation of people, capital, and ideas position themselves for twenty-first-century success. Yet some European leadership remains trapped in zero-sum thinking, viewing every passport granted to a highly qualified investor as sovereignty diluted rather than enhanced. In an interconnected world, the ability to attract and integrate global talent determines national competitiveness.
Countries with modern investment migration frameworks outperform those without in attracting foreign direct investment and building innovation ecosystems. Malta has used citizenship by investment to become one of the best performing Eurozone economies, and Portugal, Greece, and Italy have leveraged residence programs to attract significant investment. Countries that reject investment migration, by contrast, struggle with brain drain, capital flight, and demographic decline.
Nations that thrive will master the art of dialogue and bridge-building — between governments and citizens, states and investors, local and global. Investment migration, properly implemented, facilitates these dialogues and should move beyond transactional models toward genuine partnership, attracting not just money but partners in prosperity.
For Europe, the choice is stark: continue down restriction, bureaucracy, and erosion of rule of law, and watch capital, talent, and dynamism flow elsewhere; or embrace modern investment migration as a tool for renewal, maintaining high standards while welcoming those eager to contribute. The sovereign equity framework I introduced six years ago has proven more relevant than ever. The dialogue begins now; the bridges we build — or fail to build — will determine our future.
Henley & Partners assists international clients in obtaining residence and citizenship under the respective programs. Contact us to arrange an initial private consultation.
