In the first half of 2024, Abu Dhabi Global Market registered 231 financial services businesses, a 31% increase over the same time in the previous year. The financial center of the UAE capital continues to offer development initiatives and ease of doing business.
At the end of June, 2,088 companies have established bases in ADGM, according to a report released on Wednesday. 112 fund and asset managers are now in charge of 141 funds, representing a 226 percent growth in assets under administration over the previous half of the year.
Also ADGM issued 1,271 additional licenses in the first half of the year, a yearly increase of 20.5%.
The impressive growth of ADGM in the first half of 2024, according to ADGM’s chairman Ahmed Al Zaabi, “furnishes Abu Dhabi’s position as a premier hub and a destination of choice for global, regional, and local corporations and financial institutions,” acting as a stimulus for the city’s financial industry.
According to ADGM, the increase in the number of operating companies was supported by the 42 Financial Services Permissions (FSP) that were issued in the first half of the year, which represents a growth of more than 90%.
AXA IM, Morgan Stanley, GQG Partners, SS&C Financial Services, and Eiffel Investment ME are a some of the well-known companies that have received an FSP.
Their approval in principle was also granted to numerous entities in this domain. Aspen Digital, Blantyre Capital, Blue Owl, Fiera Capital, Infini Capital, Peninsula, Token Bay Capital, Triton, and Vizier are a few of these.
According to ADGM, the pipeline of organizations in the asset management space is still robust and includes hedge funds, venture capital firms, institutional funds, and private equity.
During the first half of 2024, ADGM also carried out a number of roadshows, visiting the US, Europe, Hong Kong, and the Chinese subcontinent, in an effort to strengthen its global positioning.
ADGM held over forty one-on-one conversations with venture capitalists, hedge funds, and private equity funds in the United States. In France, Switzerland, and other European hotspots, ADGM conducted more than 100 one-on-one meetings with prominent figures from the private banking, wealth management, private equity, hedge fund, and venture capital industries.
Additionally, 24 French asset management companies with $1.6 trillion in assets under management attended the second UAE-France investors’ meetup held there in May.
During its roadshow in China and Hong Kong, it highlighted intentions for many Chinese and Hong Kong businesses to expand in Abu Dhabi as well as enhancing cross-border regulatory cooperation with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
One of the financial districts with the highest rate of growth in the globe, ADGM was founded in 2015 and has grown quickly as the capital of the United Arab Emirates strengthens its non-oil economy and concentrates on drawing in more foreign businesses and investors.
when part of its transitional strategy, ADGM stated last month that it would be decreasing commercial registration license costs for some categories and increasing them for others. This move came about when the financial district expanded to include Reem Island under its authority.
The updated pricing schedule will take effect on January 1, 2025, and will reduce annual license renewal fees from $8,000 to $5,000 and half the amount for new registrations in the non-financial category.
The retail category’s registration price has been reduced by over 66% to $2,000, and renewal fees have also been cut in half to $2,000. Fees in the financial category have gone up from $15,000 to $20,000, and the cost of renewing an annual ADGM license has gone up from $13,000 to $15,000.
In an attempt to bolster its expansion even more, the ADGM unveiled a plan to expand tenfold in May of last year, bringing Reem Island under its supervision.
The Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Foundations Regulations were introduced, and in 2024, ADGM also forged strategic alliances with a few organizations. It collaborated with Hacken to improve blockchain security and the Solana Foundation to advance DLT solutions.
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