ADGM, Abu Dhabi’s international financial centre (IFC), marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating a period of exceptional growth, regulatory excellence, and financial innovation.
Since its inception in 2015, the centre has attracted more than 300 financial firms, who today manage a combined USD 28.6 trillion globally, according to Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), positioning Abu Dhabi as a global “Capital of Capital.” These include hedge funds, banks, large asset managers, private equity, venture capital and credit funds.
Growth over the past three years has been especially rapid, with the number of financial firms rising from 131 at the end of 2021 to 308 as of H1 2025, a 135% growth in 42 months, making ADGM one of the world’s fastest-growing financial hubs in the MEASA region. ADGM achieved its 5-year Growth Strategy (2022-2027) in just three years.
Established with the ambition of transforming Abu Dhabi into a global hub for business and finance, ADGM has successfully navigated early challenges, to emerge as a resilient and future-ready IFC. In recent years, the centre has entered a period of accelerated growth, becoming the region’s largest financial centre in terms of active licences.
From 2015 through to the end of 2024, Assets Under Management (AUM) within ADGM have demonstrated a remarkable triple-digit Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of 123%.
This performance has been supported by exponential growth in fund activity, where the number of funds and fund/asset managers, both metrics, achieved strong AAGRs of 62% over the same period. Meanwhile, active licences have grown at a robust 71% AAGR, and operational entities have expanded by 62%.
Commenting on this significant milestone, H.E. Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM, said, “Aligned with the vision and guidance of Abu Dhabi’s strategic leadership, ADGM has seen unprecedented growth within its short history and matured into a global financial powerhouse, attracting some of the world’s leading financial institutions. As we look to the next decade, our ambition to make ADGM one of the top five international financial centres globally is stronger than ever. Given what we’ve achieved so far, what we can build in the next ten years will be even greater.”
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