Pantheon manages about $84 billion in assets and has opened its first Abu Dhabi office at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), targeting Gulf investors and institutional partners. The London-headquartered firm says the office will deepen its regional relationships. Its global footprint now spans 13 locations across four continents.
Capital and institutional power
Firas Mallah, formerly of investment firm Sagard, will lead Pantheon’s Middle East capital formation as managing director and head of the Middle East. He’ll work with sovereign wealth funds, family offices and financial institutions across the region, the company said. The targets are clear: institutions and large pools of capital, not small investors.
“The Middle East is one of the fastest-growing sources of capital in private markets, and investors here are increasingly sophisticated about how they want exposure to the asset class,” Mallah said. “Establishing our presence in ADGM reflects our strong commitment to the region as we deepen our long-term engagement across the wider GCC.”
Regional investors increasingly seek exposure to private equity, infrastructure and private credit, according to the report. Pantheon said a dedicated Abu Dhabi office would help it build relationships with diverse investors across Gulf countries. The language is engagement; the work is capital formation.
ADGM has developed its asset management and private markets ecosystem. The financial centre is the largest international financial centre in the Middle East and Africa region by number of active licences, the report said. Arvind Ramamurthy, ADGM’s chief market development officer, said Pantheon’s decision reflected the centre’s appeal to global private market firms seeking contact with institutional investors in the region.
War, while business carries on
The UAE and other Gulf and wider Middle Eastern countries initially faced waves of missile and drone attacks from Tehran after the conflict broke out on February 28. The report describes the conflict as the seven-month Iran war. The fighting hasn’t deterred international financial firms from establishing operational bases in Abu Dhabi.
A base in the capital offers global investors and money managers opportunities to expand regional operations and work with some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, large family offices and institutional partners. The announcement sets the war beside the continuing movement of financial firms into the city: conflict in the region, capital still seeking a base.
Companies recently drawn to the UAE capital include private credit lender Blue Owl Capital, tech-focused US private equity company Vista Equity Partners, Man Group, described as the world’s largest listed hedge fund, Barings, Bain Capital, Cantor and Swiss derivative investment company Adapt Investment Managers. Europe’s largest private markets investment firm EQT established an ADGM base before Pantheon. EQT manages $389 billion in client assets and said last week that Abu Dhabi would anchor a new Middle East platform as it sought investment opportunities across the Gulf.
Assets, access and secondaries
Asset managers that established operations in ADGM in the first half of the year collectively oversee more than $2.1 trillion in global assets under management, the financial centre said earlier this month. ADGM assets under management grew 54 per cent annually in the first six months of 2026. The report also put the number of professionals based at Al Maryah Island and Al Reem Island at 49,027, up 34 per cent on the same period last year.
Pantheon says its secondaries strategies suit investors seeking access to mature portfolios while reducing some risks associated with newly established funds. Secondaries let investors acquire existing stakes in private market funds or assets, potentially bringing earlier distributions and reducing the so-called J-curve associated with traditional private market investments.
Pantheon pioneered private equity secondaries in 1988 and has since expanded into private credit and infrastructure secondaries. The firm’s announcement centres on institutional access, funds and portfolios. Its stated commitment to the region comes through ADGM and a pitch to the Gulf’s largest pools of capital.