Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Boston-headquartered State Street has inaugurated a new office in Abu Dhabi, the UAE.
The office comes as part of the financial services provider's plans to expand in the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The office, opened Monday, is State Street's second in the country, after it opened its first office in Dubai nearly 26 years prior.
The new office will be located in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the UAE's international financial centre.
In the same vein, State Street released a research paper including survey responses from 306 institutional investors based in the MENA region and responsible for over $4.9 trillion in assets under management (AUM). The investors were asked about their outlook for growth and future economic trends in the region.
"More than three quarters (78%) of those surveyed are optimistic about their own growth prospects in the Middle East. As a result of this optimism, 75% foresee growing inflows into Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) domiciled funds over the next five years," State Street's research showed.
“To find this level of concurrence and optimism among major institutions is unusual,” commented State Street CEO of EMEA Liz Nolan.
The results convey "an almost universally positive outlook" and forecast growth in the MENA region, Nolan, who doubles as chairperson for State Street Global Advisors, EMEA, added.
She went on to say that with State Street's quarter-century history in the UAE, the company has been able to formulate "a unique perspective on the institutional investor community," noting that the community's positive outlook "mirrors our own.”
