Capital Group secures ADGM licence to expand Middle East operations

ABU DHABI — Capital Group, the US asset manager with $3.6 trillion in assets under management, has secured a licence from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority to operate as a regulated investment manager in the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

The licence lets one of the world's largest investment firms run regulated operations from Abu Dhabi's financial free zone, extending its Middle East footprint beyond representative presence into licensed activity.

The approval lands in the same week that New Mountain Capital, the New York firm managing roughly $60 billion, opened an ADGM office, underscoring a steady pipeline of global managers setting up in the capital.

ADGM has spent years courting marquee asset managers as Abu Dhabi channels sovereign capital into financial-services density. Each licence of this size deepens the centre's claim to be the region's default home for global investment firms, and raises the bar for rival hubs in Dubai, Riyadh and Doha competing for the same names.

Watch for Capital Group's first hires and fund registrations out of ADGM, and whether the next wave of licences comes from private markets firms following New Mountain. Also watch whether ADGM converts these arrivals into locally domiciled products rather than sales outposts.

The National first reported the licence.