By Alex Dooler | Updated on Jun 09, 2026 at 02:58 PM
Private credit lender Blue Owl Capital Inc. is opening an office in Abu Dhabi, joining Wall Street peers that continue to expand in the emirate despite tensions stemming from the Iran war.
The alternative asset manager’s new outpost will serve as its regional headquarters and house members of its institutional capital and general partner stakes teams, according to a statement released Tuesday.
The move underscores Abu Dhabi’s continued appeal as a hub for global financial firms even as the conflict has tested investor confidence across the Gulf. Firms including Bain Capital and Barings LLC have also announced plans to establish operations in the emirate’s financial free zone, ADGM, since the war started in late February.
Like other Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates has faced Iranian missile and drone attacks. Even so, Wall Street firms from Brookfield Corp. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have remained vocal in their support, seeking deeper relationships with regional sovereign wealth funds that have continued to deploy billions across transactions spanning alternative asset managers, private credit and technology platforms, even amid the conflict.
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The region, long a major source of capital, has become increasingly assertive in recent years. Foreign firms are under growing pressure to invest locally, and industry observers have warned that scaling back commitments could impact firms’ ability to partner with state-backed entities.
With $315 billion in assets under management, Blue Owl has built strong ties in Abu Dhabi in recent years, including a 2024 partnership with Lunate to provide growth capital to mid-sized private capital managers. Wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. also committed $1 billion to Blue Owl’s credit platform in 2023.
“This is not a new market for us; it represents the next phase of our growth in the region,” Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz, Blue Owl’s co-chief executive officers, said in the statement.
Blue Owl, one of the most prominent private credit players, has seen its shares fall around 35% this year amid growing concerns about the $1.8 trillion market.
Executives in Abu Dhabi have continued to voice confidence in the asset class. Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak and his deputy Waleed Al Muhairi have both pointed to private credit’s resilience, framing performance as cyclical rather than structurally at risk.
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