Abu Dhabi Global Market attracted eight major global financial institutions managing a combined $4.4 trillion in assets that announced plans to establish operations in the emirate during March and April 2026, the authority said on May 13. The announcements coincided with ADGM’s delegation to the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, led by Chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, where officials engaged with policymakers, investors and asset managers to underscore Abu Dhabi’s role connecting global capital flows. The centre issued 284 new licences in March 2026, a 5.2 percent rise from 270 the previous year, according to ADGM figures.
The institutions included Muzinich & Co. managing $30.5 billion in assets under management, Hillhouse Investment Management with over $100 billion, Barings overseeing $481 billion and Bain Capital handling $225 billion. Hashed Global Management Limited with $324 million and Rokos Capital Management with $22 billion received financial services permissions in the week ahead of the conference while Capital Group managing $3.3 trillion and Man Group with $228.7 billion separately announced their intent to set up in Abu Dhabi, ADGM reported. The authority framed the influx as evidence of its standing as the fastest-growing international financial centre in the MENA region.
Al Zaabi said global capital is increasingly gravitating toward platforms that offer predictability, institutional strength, and global connectivity. «As ADGM advances towards its ambition to become one of the top five financial centres of the world, we continue to strengthen a globally trusted ecosystem built on regulatory clarity, forward-looking governance, and direct access to regional and international opportunities,» he added in remarks tied to the conference. «As the fastest-growing international finance centre in the MENA region, ADGM’s momentum in attracting leading global asset managers has been rapid and exceptional,» Al Zaabi stated.
The chairman participated in an onstage fireside chat with Alan Schwartz, executive chairman of Guggenheim Partners, entitled Driving Global Financial Innovation. Al Zaabi emphasised the UAE’s long-term diversification strategy and the structural resilience underpinning its growth. «The UAE’s resilience is the result of deliberate strategy, not reactive policy,» he said. «What we are seeing today is the validation of that model, an economy designed to deliver consistently, even under pressure.»
ADGM conducted over 50 high-level engagements during the Milken conference with entities including Man Group, Bain Capital, Blackstone, Carlyle Global Investment Management, Coinbase and Guggenheim. Discussions focused on potential collaborations, market entry support and ADGM’s regulatory framework together with its global connectivity, according to the authority. The centre anchors its operations in international best practices and the direct application of English Common Law as it delivers on Abu Dhabi’s broader economic vision, ADGM said.
These commitments extend ADGM’s growth trajectory from 2025 when the centre recorded a 36 percent rise in assets under management while active licences increased 30 percent to 12,671 by year-end, according to ADGM announcements released in March 2026. The authority issued 3,769 new licences across 2025 as its workforce expanded 51 percent to 44,339, the same figures show. In December 2025, ADGM drew commitments from 11 major institutions representing more than $9 trillion during Abu Dhabi Finance Week, building on prior years when assets under management had grown from $450 billion in 2023 to $635 billion the following year.
