Advent, a global private equity firm with more than $109 billion in assets under management, has opened an office in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s international financial center.
The office will give Advent a local base to deepen its work with investors in the Middle East, support its existing portfolio companies and look for investment opportunities, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mehdi Iraqi, Managing Director for Limited Partner Services, will head the office. He joined Advent in January 2026 after earlier roles at AMG and Carlyle, and has spent almost two decades covering institutional investors in the region.
“Abu Dhabi is a natural addition to Advent’s global network, alongside our recent openings in Sydney and Tokyo,” said James Brocklebank, Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Advent’s Global Executive Committee.
Advent opened its Sydney office in July 2024 and its Tokyo office in January 2026. The firm now has 18 offices in 15 countries and has made 460 investments in 45 countries since it was founded in 1984.
Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM, said the move reflected Abu Dhabi’s appeal to global investment firms.
Assets under management at ADGM grew 54% year on year in the first half of 2026, The National reported. Asset managers that set up in the financial center during that period oversee more than $2.1 trillion in combined assets, according to the newspaper.
New Mountain Capital, Capital Group and Eurazeo are among the other investment firms that have recently set up or been licensed in ADGM.
