Gao Ling officially announces: Establishing a presence in Abu Dhabi and setting up an office

Questioning AI · Why is Hillhouse making a contrarian move to lay out Abu Dhabi amid turmoil in the Middle East?

Per Daily Economic News reporter: Li Lei Per Daily Economic News editor: Ye Feng

Daily Economic News has learned that on April 2, Hillhouse Investment Management officially announced that it has established a new office in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and has already obtained a Class 3C license issued by the local Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), advancing its expansion plan in the Gulf region.

As early as 2024, market rumors indicated that Hillhouse planned to set up an office in Abu Dhabi International Financial Centre. With this official announcement, Hillhouse has become one of the first global asset management institutions to place itself in the financial core area of Abu Dhabi against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Amid turmoil in the Middle East, Hillhouse’s layout of the Abu Dhabi Financial Centre

In fact, signs of Hillhouse’s deployment in Abu Dhabi appeared long ago.

As early as the end of 2024, multiple media outlets, citing people with knowledge of the matter, reported that Hillhouse planned to establish an office in Abu Dhabi International Financial Centre. A year later, Hillhouse officially confirmed the establishment, becoming one of the first companies to announce that it would continue setting up an office in this center since the outbreak of the US-Israel conflict.

Even if the regional situation remains uncertain, Hillhouse still chose to proceed with its layout. The reason may be Abu Dhabi’s core appeal as a Middle Eastern financial hub, as well as the steady growth of the local financial ecosystem.

As the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi has 90% of the country’s oil reserves. It is relying on sovereign wealth funds to promote economic diversification and break away from a single dependence on the oil and gas industry. Its core financial platform, ADGM, has also delivered impressive results. According to ADGM official data, in 2025 the center’s assets under management grew 36% year-on-year; 3,769 new licenses were added during the year; the total number of valid licenses increased 30% to 12,671; and the number of people employed grew 51% to 44,339. Based on the number of valid licenses, ADGM is already the largest international financial center in the Middle East and Africa region.

Hillhouse’s layout is not an isolated case. Recently, many globally well-known institutions have announced that they are moving into Abu Dhabi one after another. Just on March 30, investment firm Muzinich & Co. was the first to set up an office in ADGM. In addition, statistics show that over the past two years, international institutions such as Skadden, Golub Capital, Morgan Stanley, and General Atlantic have all established or planned to establish operating bases in Abu Dhabi. A duty-free business environment, convenient market access, and the location advantage of being adjacent to the world’s largest pool of sovereign capital have become the key factors driving Abu Dhabi’s continued attraction of institutions.

Deep cultivation and local implementation: the UAE has a solid operational foundation, with capabilities built across multiple platforms

The establishment of this new office is not Hillhouse’s first layout in the UAE, but a further deepening of its already substantial local operational foundation. Even before the new office was officially settled in, Hillhouse had already completed a multi-dimensional business layout in the UAE through multiple platforms under its umbrella.

First, the core corporate services platform Ascentium is an important foothold for Hillhouse’s layout in the UAE. This platform is a global business services platform supported by Hillhouse, established in September 2024, headquartered in Singapore. It focuses on secretarial services, finance, payroll management, human resources administration, family offices, fund management, GRC (governance/risk/compliance), and cross-border as well as foreign direct investment.

In February 2026, Ascentium also secured Clara, the largest licensed corporate services provider in ADGM.

According to reports from overseas media, Ascentium currently has 2,600 professionals across 46 cities and 23 markets worldwide, serving more than 63,000 client organizations; while Clara can provide end-to-end services such as company registration, governance, and compliance for 2,000 enterprises in ADGM and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), covering a range of entities including startups, investment institutions, and government-related entities. These arrangements mean that before Hillhouse’s new office officially expands, it already has stable local deal channels and licensed service capabilities.

At the same time, Hillhouse’s physical asset investment subsidiary Rava Partners has also made a move in the UAE education real estate sector, investing in Hartland International School and North London Collegiate School, among others.

Hillhouse Co-CEO Adam Hornung said in an interview with overseas media last March that the company plans to deploy between $1 billion and $2 billion in Japan each year. Its fifth fund series has about $6 billion in investable capital, and it also plans to double the number of local employees.

As its fundraising footprint continues to expand across Asia and the Gulf, Abu Dhabi provides Hillhouse with another operational foothold. According to Reuters, Abu Dhabi’s appeal still lies in convenient market access, low taxes, and its proximity to the world’s largest pool of sovereign capital. Even though regional shipping and travel once experienced widespread disruption, institutions continue to move in, further strengthening this trend.

As a leading Chinese asset management institution, Hillhouse’s Abu Dhabi layout is not only an important step in its own global expansion, but also adds another entry to the ever-expanding roster of financial institutions in Abu Dhabi—continuing the trend of legal, credit, and private capital platforms all rolling out their presence here. The 2025 ADGM license and employment data also validate why many institutions choose to conduct licensed operations, carry out fundraising activities, and connect more closely with Middle Eastern investors in this hub.

Daily Economic News