To strengthen the wealth management sector in Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has partnered with wealthtech platform, Alpheya.
The Emirate has a vision of enhancing the wealth management industry and attracting high-impact global investors and with ADIO partnering with Alpheya, Abu Dhabi is one step closer to achieving this goal. With the backing of BNY, Lunate and ADQ, Alpheya provides an AI-driven wealth management platform that helps banks, asset managers and investment advisors deliver personalised financial services to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals in the GCC market.
As part of its growth strategy, Alpheya plans to make significant capital and operational investments over the next three years, starting with the opening of a new Alpheya office in Al Ain. Enabled by ADIO’s competitive business support, Alpheya will accelerate innovation in financial technology, with plans to register new intellectual property (IP) to enable foreign financial institutions to set up and go to market efficiently in Abu Dhabi.
Alongside investment in technology and infrastructure, Alpheya is also committed to nurturing local talent. The company plans to establish an internship programme for Emirati talent, launch financial literacy initiatives for students and educators and introduce an international exposure programme for UAE Nationals.
Roger Rouhana, CEO of Alpheya, commented: “We are committed to redefining how wealth management is delivered in the region, and partnering with ADIO marks a key milestone in that journey. By expanding within Abu Dhabi, we are continuing to set a new standard through a next-generation, AI-powered platform that allows financial institutions to provide personalised, data-driven investment solutions at scale.
“ADIO’s support enhances our ability to develop local expertise and shape the future of digital wealth services in the UAE.”
A blueprint for success in Abu Dhabi
The partnership between ADIO and Alpheya underscores Abu Dhabi’s commitment to expanding its financial services sector and increasing local expertise in wealth management, furthering the emirate’s vision to become a premier destination for global financial institutions seeking advanced, technology-driven wealth management solutions.
To get a better understanding of ADIO’s roadmap in developing emerging sectors in Abu Dhabi, Mark Walker, editorial director and CEO of The Fintech Times, spoke to Ahmad Soubra, CFA – head of value creation, cluster planning and development at Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
1. Mark Walker: What was the strategic rationale behind ADIO’s decision to partner with Alpheya, and how does this align with Abu Dhabi’s broader vision for its financial services ecosystem?
Ahmad Soubra: Our partnership with Alpheya reflects a deliberate and forward-looking strategy to anchor transformational companies in Abu Dhabi. We’re focusing on firms that are not just commercially viable, but pivotal to the evolution of their industries.
Alpheya is addressing a structural gap in wealth management, a vital sector of economic importance that has largely been excluded from the digital platforms transforming other areas of finance. The fragmentation among independent wealth managers, especially across emerging and mid-sized markets, represents a longstanding inefficiency with global implications.
What sets Alpheya apart is its ambition to build the foundational infrastructure: a purpose-built operating system capable of underpinning the future of wealth management. This speaks directly to Abu Dhabi’s strategic intent. As the emirate accelerates its transition towards a diversified, innovation-led economy, it’s building a financial services ecosystem that is both globally exportable and locally embedded.
For us at ADIO, this means empowering firms with the potential to define how key subsectors evolve, scale and succeed. In Alpheya, we saw a partner with a bold mission that aligns with our vision to position Abu Dhabi’s economic transformation at the intersection of capital, progressive regulation and technological innovation.
2. MW: In what ways does this partnership reflect ADIO’s ongoing efforts to attract high-impact global investors to the emirate?
AS: Our partnership with Alpheya illustrates how Abu Dhabi is redefining itself as a global nexus for financial innovation and investment. It sends a clear message, not only to founders, but to the broader investment community: that the emirate is the destination of choice for forward-thinking fintech companies at the heart of global capital flows. These firms are not simply participating in markets; they are shaping them.
Alpheya’s decision to base its global operations in Abu Dhabi reflects a growing conviction among market leaders choosing the emirate for its distinctive regulatory environment, deep access to capital and long-term institutional mindset. This reflects ADIO’s approach more broadly.
We’re not competing on the provision of competitive business support alone. We’re offering both early-stage and mature growth companies access to an ecosystem where globally minded firms can invest with clarity, credibility and scale. We focus on businesses whose presence creates multiplier effects, bringing intellectual capital, elevating local capability and attracting adjacent players to Abu Dhabi. This kind of long-term, strategically aligned and catalytic investment defines our approach to investor attraction.
Abu Dhabi is not following the fintech curve; it is helping define its trajectory. We are shaping the agenda, and this partnership underscores that ambition. For investors, this means confidence in the long-term resilience and growth of companies embedded in our ecosystem.
3. MW: Can you elaborate on how ADIO evaluates and supports fintech firms with long-term growth potential, especially in emerging subsectors like wealthtech?
AS: ADIO applies a sector-specific lens grounded in deep thematic research and long-term economic alignment. We assess fintech firms through the nuance of their subsectors, such as WealthTech, which can serve professional segments that are sometimes under-digitised, such as advisers, asset managers and family offices, yet are core to capital flows across the region. We’re drawn to firms that combine technological maturity, operational resilience and the potential to redefine entire value chains.
We seek companies that can scale responsibly and influence the future architecture of their markets from a strong base in Abu Dhabi.
Once aligned, our support is strategic, tailored and hands-on. This includes navigating market entry, optimising regulatory pathways and forging trusted relationships across the public and private sector.
A compelling example is our work with ABHI, originally from Pakistan, which is now an Abu Dhabi-headquartered embedded finance platform. ADIO engaged early, recognising the company’s ability to solve real liquidity constraints for underserved populations while embedding financial services at the point of need.
What began as an expansion opportunity evolved into a broader role for ABHI as part of Abu Dhabi’s financial innovation landscape, including capital mobilisation, hiring local talent and regional capability-building.
For ADIO, success means more than facilitation. It means creating the conditions where transformative companies embed, scale and shape the market around them, while contributing to Abu Dhabi’s status as a globally leading financial centre and economic hub.
4. MW: What message would you share with fintech innovators looking to scale in Abu Dhabi — and how does this partnership serve as a blueprint for future collaboration?
AS: If you’re building the next generation of financial infrastructure that is global in scope, commercially sound and operationally complex, Abu Dhabi is the place to realise it. Too many fintech companies face a trade-off between capital and control, speed and stability, growth and regulatory certainty.
ADIO helps companies leverage Abu Dhabi’s business-friendly landscape, removing those barriers. The emirate is one of the few markets where transformative firms can operate with full ownership, underpinned by deep institutional support and a long-term economic vision.
The Alpheya partnership is a case in point. It shows what Abu Dhabi offers in practice: early engagement, strategic alignment and a shared commitment to long-term value creation. It’s not about short-term financial support or volume-driven deal flow. It’s about working with firms whose impact can compound over time and providing them with a seamless environment to do so from the outset.
This is how ADIO delivers on our mandate as a trusted growth partner that is aligned with long-term value creation, and committed to enabling global ambition from Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi competes where it can lead, and in the case of fintech, we support companies with tailored, end-to-end support, ensuring that founders thrive in Abu Dhabi, and realise their global ambitions.
Source: https://thefintechtimes.com/
