Franklin Templeton has obtained licences from the UAE Capital Markets Authority for its onshore Abu Dhabi entity, giving the firm a regulated presence across all three of the country’s financial jurisdictions: mainland Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Global Market, and Dubai International Financial Centre.
The US asset manager has operated in the UAE for more than 25 years. The new licence extends its footprint beyond the two offshore free zones it already occupied and positions the firm to serve clients across different regulatory environments from a single regional base.
“The UAE is an increasingly important market for global asset management, but long-term success here depends on being close to clients and deeply connected to local priorities. This milestone not only reinforces our commitment to the market but also enables us to offer clients a broader range of investment services, combining our global capabilities with deep local expertise,” Matthew Harrison, Head of EMEA and Americas ex-US at Franklin Templeton said in a statement.
“With offices now across all three financial jurisdictions, we are uniquely positioned to serve clients across the UAE’s key regulatory environments, while strengthening our ability to bring Franklin Templeton’s global investment expertise to areas that matter locally, including retirement savings and end-of-service solutions,” Sandeep Singh, Head of CEEMEA and Head of Global Official Institutions at Franklin Templeton added.
The move reflects a pattern among large international asset managers of deepening their UAE footprint as Abu Dhabi and Dubai compete to attract institutional capital and wealth management mandates from across the region.
