Abu Dhabi Global Market Posts 57% Jump in Assets Under Management

Assets under management at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) grew 57% in the first quarter of 2026, one of several figures the international financial centre pointed to as evidence it is consolidating its position as the region’s leading hub for finance.

Active licences at ADGM crossed 13,353 by the end of Q1, with 961 issued in the quarter alone. The workforce based within the centre expanded 44% to 47,047 people, while the number of licensed financial services entities rose 30% year-on-year to 365.

Asset management specifically stood out: asset and fund managers grew 24% to 179 entities, and the number of managed funds jumped 43% to 263. New asset managers that set up during the quarter collectively represent more than $4.4 trillion in global AUM — a figure that speaks to the scale of institutions now choosing Abu Dhabi as a base.

Operational entities across ADGM reached 3,741, up nearly 35%, alongside 22 In-Principle Approvals and 29 new Financial Services Permissions issued during the period.

What’s notable for anyone tracking the UAE’s two competing financial centres is that this growth is happening in parallel with DIFC’s own record expansion in Dubai — a sign that both emirates are pulling in fresh global capital rather than simply competing for the same pool.

ADGM Chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi framed the quarter plainly: “Surpassing 13,000 active licences and recording 57% growth in AUM marks another major milestone in ADGM’s growth trajectory.” New licence activity kept accelerating into March 2026 specifically, up 5.2% year-on-year for that month alone.

The centre is also investing in local talent to support this growth — its ADGM Academy created 441 job placements for UAE nationals across nine specialised finance and regulatory tracks during the period, pairing the capital inflow with a homegrown workforce pipeline rather than relying solely on relocating professionals.

For Abu Dhabi’s property market, a workforce base expanding 44% in a single quarter — on top of institutional capital pouring in at this scale — is precisely the combination that has historically preceded sustained demand for premium residential and office space near financial districts like Al Maryah Island. DKey continues to track this exact pattern for clients positioning ahead of Abu Dhabi’s growth curve.

A few of these figures are worth putting in context. Asset and fund managers grew 24% to 179 entities this quarter, and the number of managed funds jumped 43% to 263 — but the more telling number is that the new asset managers who set up during the quarter alone collectively bring more than $4.4 trillion in global AUM, which points to established global managers relocating existing books of business to ADGM rather than testing the market with a minimal pilot presence. Workforce growth tells a similar story: at 47,047 people across 13,353 licences, the ratio of roughly 3.5 employees per licensed entity suggests firms are building out full operational teams in Abu Dhabi rather than maintaining a nominal licensing presence while running operations elsewhere.

Abu Dhabi Global Market operates its own English common law framework, independent of onshore UAE civil law — a structural feature that continues to be one of the centre’s main draws for international asset managers used to English-law fund documentation and dispute resolution. That legal architecture, combined with the zero-percent tax regime most ADGM entities qualify for, is generally cited by relocating managers as more decisive than any single quarter’s growth number, which is part of why quarter-on-quarter swings like this one tend to compound rather than reverse.

For DKey’s Abu Dhabi clients, this quarter’s numbers reinforce a pattern worth watching closely: workforce and AUM growth arriving together, rather than capital inflows outpacing the people needed to manage it, tends to be the more durable setup for sustained demand across Al Maryah Island and the wider Abu Dhabi financial district residential market.

Source of information: ADGM