Family offices in the Gulf enter the era of institutional investment, with a surge in tech and venture-capital deals reshaping wealth management

Family offices in the Gulf region no longer rely solely on traditional links and inherited intuition across generations to manage their assets; instead they are undergoing a structural shift toward institutional investment models capable of capturing growth opportunities in private markets and advanced technologies. This development reflects a clear desire among the younger generations to move beyond previous wealth-management patterns and to boldly target sectors such as artificial intelligence, venture capital, private credit, infrastructure and renewable energy, after investment presence had been concentrated in passive portfolio management through external managers.

The data released by the BWC study of global family-office deals show the pace of this shift; family offices in the United Arab Emirates completed venture-capital investment deals worth about 11 billion dirhams, equivalent to $3 billion, between July 2024 and June 2025, achieving a jump of 15-fold compared with the previous period, placing the UAE third globally after the United States and the United Kingdom. The country also recorded a prominent presence in private-equity deals by those offices, with total transactions amounting to roughly $5 billion, ranking sixth worldwide after having recorded zero in the prior period.

The move to an institutional level is no longer a supplementary option; it has become a pathway for governing decisions and allocating capital efficiently through specialized investment committees and rigorous due-diligence teams.In this context, Aboudi Najia, co-head for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman at Lombard Odier, the Swiss bank, notes that regional family offices are moving away from relying solely on externally managed traditional solutions and are increasing their exposure to direct investments and co-investment opportunities. This practice is evident locally in established models such as Al Nuais Investment in Abu Dhabi, which holds major stakes in large entities including AMEA Power, Danway Industries and the Rotana Hotels Group.

Although the 2026 global family-office report from UBS, which covered 307 offices with an average wealth of $2.7 billion, showed a worldwide decline in direct deals in favor of funds, bringing the two ratios to roughly parity, the Gulf region stands out with a proactive approach in redirecting capital to seize opportunities and meet international challenges. Thomas Hudson, adviser to the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, explains that current and upcoming generation leaders draw their orientation from global investment hubs, with particular interest in Silicon Valley, artificial-intelligence projects, the future of mobility and health, and they tend to set up investment structures that include venture-capital funds or attract international firms for local expansion.

This maturity has turned regional financial centres, especially Abu Dhabi, into an attractive environment for foreign family offices and international investors.Prominent institutions have opened offices in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, including Singapore’s R.B. Capital / Royal Holdings, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, and Simitar, owned by former Apollo chief Leon Black. Simitar’s chairman, Asad Hosseini, says investors are moving out of the waiting room to capture temporary price dips in assets and to seek higher returns through private structures focused on credit and technology.

This trajectory imposes a tangible change on the business environment and tech entrepreneurs in the Gulf, Egypt and the region as a whole; attracting family-wealth financing no longer depends on informal networks but is subject to stringent technical and governance evaluation standards comparable to those of major global financial institutions. At the same time, the gap in competencies needed to build precise investment strategies and lead investment offices is widening, a challenge that specialized initiatives such as the Wealth and Asset Management College of the Abu Dhabi Global Market Academy, led by Ali Al-Mahiri, are tackling by preparing talent that combines technical acumen with institutional vision, thereby ensuring wealth sustainability and its direction toward high-productivity future sectors.