Private credit giant Blue Owl Capital is opening a regional headquarters — somewhat of a loaded term in the Gulf — in Abu Dhabi, an indicator that Wall Street firms are still betting on the UAE capital despite uncertainty over the Iran war. The firm, which manages $315 billion in assets, joins an increasingly crowded field at the city’s financial hub ADGM, which includes Bain Capital, Barings, BlackRock, Man Group, and Vista Equity Partners. They have been drawn in by proximity to sovereign wealth funds like ADIA and Mubadala, a growing number of family offices, and the region’s expanding appetite for private credit.

Gulf sovereign funds quadrupled their private credit exposure between 2021 and 2025 — to roughly $80 billion — with Mubadala the most committed. But the asset class has recently come under strain: Defaults are rising and redemption requests have spiked, with developments at Blue Owl among the indications of potential cracks in the ecosystem.