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The UAE’s growing clout with global investors and financial institutions is reflected in the roster of A-list names pegged to headline the upcoming Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW).
The four-day event, which will run from December 9 to 12 at the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), is expected to attract over 20,000 leaders, financial experts and power brokers, who, according to organisers, will collectively represent more than $42.5 trillion in assets under management (AUM).
Names such as Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of Blackrock; Ray Dalio, founder and CIO Mentor, Bridgewater Associates; Sergio Ermotti, Group CEO at UBS; Peter Abraam, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at International Holding Company (IHC); and Richard Teng, CEO at Binance, are some of the high-profile headliners expected to speak at the event.
For Abu Dhabi, which recently took on the moniker of “the capital of capital” with $1.7 trillion in sovereign wealth holdings, the event reflects its allure to the ultra-high net worth individuals that have made the UAE central to the great wealth transfer accompanying their emigration drive to grow their funds.
According to a recent report by UBS, the aggregate wealth of UAE billionaires rose by 39.5% to $138.7 billion, with the number of billionaires growing to 18 in 2024.
“Over the past year, the total number of billionaires had risen to 2,682 from 2,544 a year earlier, and their worth to $14 trillion from $12 trillion. With the billionaire population now ageing, they are looking beyond their borders as their families grow. Our study has shown that ease of legal structures, which supports a transfer of wealth, coupled with healthcare and education, have benefited countries such as the UAE, the US and Switzerland, which have seen an influx of billionaires over the past decade,” said Benjamin Cavalli, Head of Strategic Clients at UBS Global Wealth Management, who is one of the headline speakers at the ADFW later in the week.
Last week, Abu Dhabi also set out a new regulatory framework to further simplify processes for businesses looking to set up on these shores. A newly announced centralised business registry authority, the Abu Dhabi Registration Authority (ADRA), will be a single point for business registration, a statement said.
The ADRA will form part of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development (ADDED), which has a central role in streamlining government strategy to diversify the economy, attract foreign investment and spur local businesses.
“We want to make business easier and simpler,” Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADDED, said at the opening session of Abu Dhabi Business Week, which was held last week.
ADDED also launched the Abu Dhabi Trade Information Portal (TIP), a solution to facilitate import, export and re-export procedures that was described as a “digital-first approach to global trade” by Mohammed Al Kamali, Chief Trade and Industry Officer at the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).
The emergence of companies in a range of new sectors and the potential for business created by Abu Dhabi’s investments has also caught the interest of the international financial community.
Bridgewater Associates and European Hedge fund management firm Brevan Howard now have a presence in Abu Dhabi.
According to the Q3 data by ADGM, the international financial centre of Abu Dhabi, new joiners include PGIM, Nuveen and Elysium Management. PGIM is a $1.33 trillion US asset manager, while Nuveen manages $1.2 trillion in assets.
Other recent joiners include Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specialising in infrastructure and real assets, and Gemcorp Capital.
As the ADFW kicks off this week, the event will also include breakaway forums such as Asset Abu Dhabi, which will shed light on topics such as the evolution of public and private markets, investing in the next decade of technology, investing in cities of the future, and insights derived from the world’s biggest hedge funds.
The agenda will include the perspectives on institutional capital and asset allocators in a changing investment landscape.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
