ADGM's Q1 2026 Ledger: Licence Approvals Jump 45% as Fund Managers Cross $4.4 Trillion

ADGM's Q1 2026 Ledger

Abu Dhabi's international financial centre opened 2026 with its strongest quarterly numbers yet. Total active licences at Abu Dhabi Global Market climbed past 13,000, closing the first quarter at 13,353, with 961 of those issued in the three months to March alone. That is a net gain of 2,783 licences since the same point last year, and March 2026 alone brought 5.2 percent more new licences than March 2025 did.

The more useful number for founders and fund managers sits one layer down, in the regulator's own approval activity. According to ADGM's official Q1 2026 results, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority issued 22 In-Principle Approvals during the quarter and signed off on 29 new Financial Services Permissions, a 45 percent jump on the same period in 2025. Those two figures are close to a real-time read on how fast new regulated businesses are clearing Abu Dhabi's gates, and both accelerated even as the wider region absorbed the fallout of the ongoing regional conflict.

Where the capital is landing

Assets under management across ADGM grew 57 percent in the quarter, and the number of asset and fund managers based in the centre rose to 179, up 24 percent from 144 a year earlier. The funds they run out of ADGM reached 263, a 43 percent jump from 184 in Q1 2025, spanning private equity, venture capital, hedge funds and sustainable finance strategies.

ADGM Chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi linked the numbers directly to investor sentiment through a tense regional stretch, noting that capital kept flowing and global firms kept expanding into Abu Dhabi even during the period of regional uncertainty.

Behind the aggregate figures sits a run of large, named arrivals. Managers already running trillions of dollars globally, including Capital Group, Man Group, Barings and Bain Capital, joined the centre during the quarter, alongside Hillhouse Investment, Muzinich & Co., Madison Realty Capital and Grow Investment Group. On the newer end of the market, Rokos Capital Management, Polygreen Holdings and digital asset investor Hashed also set up shop, pushing the combined AUM represented by 2026's new arrivals past 4.4 trillion dollars.

Financial services firms and the workforce behind them

The number of licensed financial services entities in ADGM rose to 365, up 30 percent from 281 a year earlier, while the centre's total operational entities, covering both financial and non-financial firms, grew 34.5 percent to 3,741. Employment kept pace with the licensing activity: ADGM's workforce reached 47,047 people, a 44 percent increase over the year.

Real estate has become a visible part of that growth story too. The Registration Authority activated a new Broker Classification Framework during the quarter and rolled out an expanded suite of real property services, while a new ADGM Service Centre opened at The Galleria on Al Maryah Island in February to handle the volume of business now moving through the district.

Global engagement backing the numbers

ADGM used the quarter to widen its overseas footprint too, signing a strategic partnership with Shenzhen's Futian district in China and holding high-level meetings with Bain Capital, Vista Equity Partners and Man Group on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference in the United States. The centre's chairman also led engagement with Italian institutions during the period. None of that shows up directly in the licence count, but it is the kind of groundwork that typically feeds the following quarter's arrivals list.

How it lines up against DIFC

Dubai's DIFC posted its own record first half in July, crossing 10,018 active registered companies, a comparison worth keeping in view for anyone weighing where to base a regulated entity. The two hubs are not measuring quite the same thing. DIFC counts registered companies, ADGM counts active licences, and the reporting periods sit a quarter apart. Even so, the direction is the same on both sides of the Gulf: licence approvals, fund formations and financial services headcount are all climbing faster than they did in 2025, regional conflict disruption notwithstanding.

What it means for founders and fund managers

For a founder or fund manager weighing DIFC against ADGM this quarter, the FSRA's approval pace, 29 new permissions against 22 In-Principle Approvals and a 45 percent year on year jump in permissions issued, is arguably the more useful signal than the headline licence count. It points to a regulator processing an accelerating pipeline without an obvious backlog, at a moment when Abu Dhabi is actively courting large asset managers rather than early-stage startups alone. The spread of real estate and digital asset arrivals alongside the traditional names also suggests ADGM is no longer leaning solely on conventional asset management to hit its growth targets.

What to watch next

ADGM has not yet published its full first-half 2026 results. Whether the Q1 pace in FSRA approvals and fund formations holds through the second quarter, particularly against a backdrop of continued regional uncertainty, will be the clearer test of whether this is a durable shift or a strong opening quarter.

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