Emirates NBD, a banking group in Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye (MENAT) region, has signed an agreement with BlackRock to create an investment platform that will provide the bank’s wealth clients access to alternatives, specifically within private markets which was traditionally only available to institutional investors in the region.

There are two main types of alternative investments. First are private assets such as private equity, private credit, infrastructure and private real estate. They are more complex and less frequently traded than public stocks and bonds, and give investors access to additional sources of return. Hedge funds, the second type, operate mainly in public markets but use less traditional tools such as short-selling and leverage.

The private markets segment is the fastest growing segment and with alternative assets expected to reach $30 trillion by the end of the 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 by providing additional services such as marketing, education, training and technology.

Through the Emirates NBD Asset Management platform, the long-term goal is to democratise the alternative assets space and offer Emirates NBD’s clients across the Middle East access to alternatives across all major asset classes.

Marwan Hadi, Group Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management at Emirates NBD, commented, “Innovation is a cornerstone at Emirates NBD, and we are pleased to partner with BlackRock to offer access to best-in-class, products in alternative markets through a dedicated platform while supporting the growing needs of investors in the region. We are deeply 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.”

Rachel Lord, Head of International at BlackRock, said, “We are delighted to partner with Emirates NBD as they build out their private markets platform. 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. The combination of Emirates NBD’s distribution capabilities and reach across the region, combined with BlackRock’s expertise and global leadership in private markets, will be a compelling proposition for Middle Eastern investors.”

The private markets offerings will be based on BlackRock’s Alternative Investments platform, which now exceeds $450 billion AUM and supported by over 1,000 personnel in more than 50 countries.

BlackRock obtained license in ADGM UAE in 2024

BlackRock obtained a commercial license in Abu Dhabi and has revealed plans to seek regulatory approval to operate in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). This came weeks after the US asset manager, with $11.4 trillion in AUM, announced its plans to set up its regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia.

BlackRock said the Abu Dhabi move would allow it to work with sovereign wealth funds, wealth managers and investment vehicles based in the UAE capital, with a focus on AI infrastructure and transition focused solutions. Earlier BlackRock appointed Mohammad AlFahim as Head of the UAE, while Ben Powell relocated to the region to serve clients as BlackRock Investment Institute’s first Chief Middle East & APAC Investment Strategist.

BlackRock lists first Bitcoin ETP product outside USA

The announcement comes as BlackRock, the global asset manager behind the largest U.S. spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), is set to list a bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe, its first crypto ETP outside North America. The iShares Bitcoin ETP will trade on Xetra and Euronext in Paris under the ticker IB1T and on Euronext Amsterdam as BTCN on Tuesday, according listing details on iShares’ website.

BlackRock’s ishares Bitcoin ETF is worth over $50 billion.

Could UAE be the next?