Germany's $1.36 trillion asset manager DWS plans Abu Dhabi office

Company is latest trillion-dollar global investment manager to call the emirate home

Assets under management of companies at ADGM rose 33 per cent during the first quarter of 2025 from a year earlier. Photo: ADGM

DWS Group, a German investment manager with €1.01 trillion ($1.36 trillion) in assets under management, plans to expand its global footprint by opening an office at Abu Dhabi’s financial centre ADGM.

The Frankfurt-headquartered asset manager expects to start serving clients in the Emirates from its first Middle East outpost later this year, a DWS spokesperson told The National.

DWS, which is majority-owned by German lender Deutsche Bank, has received interest from at least a dozen staff members who are keen to move to the UAE capital, its chief executive Stefan Hoops told the Financial News.

“Since we said we would open a branch we've had plenty of colleagues internally saying: 'Hey, can I work from there?'” Mr Hoops told the London newspaper. “I don't think London has to worry about Abu Dhabi, but it's pretty attractive for a variety of reasons.”

The asset manager plans to move “people that will do things for the Middle East”, he said. “But I could imagine moving more people if they want to be there. Why not? It's a diversification of time zone coverage. If somebody wants to move, we will support their move,” Mr Hoops added.

DWS joins a rapidly expanding list of asset managers, insurers, financial institutions and investment houses that have set up a base or have announced plans to call the financial hub their home.

It is also the latest trillion-dollar asset manager to choose Abu Dhabi as its base for Middle East expansion.

Partners Group, a Switzerland-based private market investment company with $150 billion client assets, announced the opening of a regional headquarters at ADGM in June.

In the same month, Harrison Street, a $56 billion US-based property and infrastructure investment manager, also said it is entering the Middle East market with the opening of an office at ADGM.

In February, German asset manager Patrizia was granted approval by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority to start operations at ADGM. The company, which has about €55 billion in assets under management, plans to arrange and advise real estate investments for clients in the region.

New York-based BlackRock, the world's top asset manager with nearly $11.5 trillion in assets under management, in November received a commercial licence to operate at ADGM.

In September, ADGM welcomed its first trillion-dollar asset managers when PGIM, the global asset management business of Prudential Financial was granted a licence. Chicago investment firm Nuveen, soon followed, with both firms aiming to expand their operations and client bases in the Middle East.

The flurry of new additions pushed up the number of companies in ADGM during the first quarter of this year, with assets under management also increasing by 33 per cent annually, the financial hub said in June.

The total number of businesses operating at ADGM rose by 43 per cent annually to 2,781 in the first three months of 2025, it said. At the end of last year, the financial zone had 2,381 operational entities.