Initial focus on private credit and multi-alternatives
Emirates NBD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BlackRock to create an investment platform that will provide the bank’s wealth clients access to alternatives, specifically within private markets.
Traditionally only available to institutional investors in the region, private markets represent the fastest-growing segment of asset management, with alternative assets expected to reach US$ 30tn by the end of this decade.
Emirates NBD Asset Management and BlackRock will launch an initial range of evergreen offerings targeting income and growth strategies on an exclusive basis for the UAE wealth market.
Alongside these strategies, BlackRock will deploy its open architecture approach to support Emirates NBD Asset Management’s plans to expand its private markets offering
Investment landscape
“We are committed to creating value through our offerings and advancing the investment landscape in the UAE and the wider region, which has been experiencing a strong appetite in the last few years,” stated Marwan Hadi, Group Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Emirates NBD.
“Spurred by investor sentiment and facilitated by product innovation, technology, and regulatory advancements, wealth allocations to private markets are predicted to increase materially over the next five years,” noted Rachel Lord, Head of International, BlackRock.
The private markets offerings will be based on BlackRock’s Alternative Investments platform, which now exceeds US$ 450bn AUM and supported by over 1,000 personnel in more than 50 countries.
