American bank State Street has established a new office in Abu Dhabi, which is its second in the UAE.
The firm already has a presence in Dubai, where it has been operating since 26 years.
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The new office, located in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), offers a range of services including global custody, accounting, risk and performance analytics and securities lending, multi-asset and active investment management to Middle East clients.
The Middle East business will be jointly headed by State Street Bank and Trust senior executive officer Oliver Berger and State Street global Advisors senior executive officer Emmanuel Laurina.
The expansion in the Middle East was backed by a survey State Street commissioned to Oxford Economics.
The survey found 78% of respondents optimistic about growth prospects in the Middle East and 75% anticipating growing inflows into Gulf Cooperation Council domiciled funds over the next five years.
The survey also found 91% of respondents planning to diversify their portfolios to historically complex asset classes, and 42% planning to increase allocation to exchange traded funds.
Respondents were also optimistic about funds incorporating environmental, social and governance factors, with 73% expecting growth in demand for such funds.
State Street CEO for EMEA and State Street Global Advisors chairperson for EMEA Liz Nolan said: “To find this level of concurrence and optimism among major institutions is unusual.
“The results show there is an almost universally positive outlook and prediction of growth in MENA. Having had a presence in the region for more than a quarter of a century, we have a unique perspective on the institutional investor community, and their positive outlook mirrors our own.”
