Fund managers tend to follow the money and increasingly, that means heading to the Middle East and specifically, to the United Arab Emirates. That’s where we find Kasia Lupa-Nowicka, SS&C’s Senior Executive Officer, Private Markets for the Middle East.
Kasia is responsible for establishing and growing SS&C’s presence in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), one of the world’s largest and fastest growing financial services districts. Having overseen the opening of SS&C’s Abu Dhabi office in March 2024, Kasia explains the appeal of the ADGM, outlines the challenges of establishing a new presence and brand in a new country and details how she expects the team to make the most of the “goldmine” of opportunities available in the region.
What were the biggest challenges in 2024?
Opening a new office in a new country is never easy but I have to say, with the right partners we found everyone was eager to help and support a new entrant to the market. SS&C is a huge, global operation, so there was tremendous support that I was able to rely on, and the ADGM also provided excellent support in helping get set up.
We have been servicing fund managers in the Middle East for more than a decade, especially funds registered outside the region in places like the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Ireland. But now that we have our license, we’re able to bring the same support that SS&C has been providing to US and European fund managers directly to the region.
Since opening, the number one priority has been to raise our brand awareness. We are well known in the US, Europe and across APAC. In the Middle East, we are just starting to show what we can do with the wealth of solutions we can bring to the region. Everyone on the team is 100% focused on showing the difference we can make to operations and investment capabilities.
It's not just about the brand. It’s about making people aware of the breadth of our offering—everything from investment accounting and fund administration to regulatory reporting and managed IT services. The range is huge, and we can tailor it to suit the largest, long-established funds as well as the newest, cutting-edge entrants.
Getting the breadth of that offering communicated to fund managers in this market is the biggest challenge and our number one priority.
Where do you think the main opportunities for 2025 lie?
There is a dynamic and growing market here and one area where we’re confident we can make a difference is supporting international fund managers entering the Middle East market for the first time. We’re also an international company, so wherever these fund managers are operating, we almost certainly are too—so we’re well placed to help them streamline their operations or to manage them ourselves.
The global private credit market has grown tremendously in recent years and we’re seeing the same thing here in Abu Dhabi, so there is lots of opportunity there. But what’s particularly interesting is the growing influence of hybrid funds, while venture capital is also on fire with lots of funds launching here.
In 2023, the ADGM saw a 32% increase in firms and a 35% increase in assets under management and it’s easy to see why. It’s a great city, it’s been voted the safest in the world, it’s only six hours to Europe and about eight hours to Singapore, and of course, there is nearly $2 trillion held in sovereign wealth funds here. Abu Dhabi is well positioned in more than geographic terms and it will start to challenge the West for capital.
How are you helping clients make the most of their investments? What’s the key difference you make to their business performance?
This is a fast-growing region with fund managers from across the world attracted to sovereign wealth funds, and that competition is driving more and more innovation in the way managers design their funds. But whatever the model or size of the fund, we’ve got the technology, the expertise and the appetite to support.
At heart, we’re a tech firm, but we don’t just sell our technology—we use it too. Every piece of technology we use with clients is integrated into our own systems, so we’re using it every day and know it inside out.
Which means that when clients come to us for support, whether for trade order management, investor services, ESG reporting or whatever service they are buying from us, we know how to tailor our systems to their business needs.
There’s a huge amount of technology, people and process behind all this, but our job is to make our clients’ lives a lot easier and let them spend as much time as possible making those crucial investment calls.
Where do you think the greatest opportunities for fund managers lie in the Middle East and how will you support them?
Hybrid funds are on the rise, and we’re well positioned to support that growth. One thing that generated lots of discussion at last year’s Abu Dhabi Finance Week was tokenized funds.
Funds are diving into the world of blockchain and investors in this region are open to the possibilities it presents. It’s an emerging area but it has attracted attention from the big institutional investors. The ADGM entered this market when the Realize T-BILLS Fund was launched in October last year.
It’s a market with huge potential and one we will be exploring over the coming year. By the end of 2025, I expect the team will have grown, our brand and reputation will be better established and we will have introduced more of our expertise to more funds operating out of the ADGM.
Ultimately, I hope we’ll become the most trusted partner for new and existing clients.
SS&C Financial Services Middle East Limited is regulated in the Abu Dhabi Global Market by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority.