An insight into Standard Life Aberdeen’s young Abu Dhabi office
By Mark Battersby, 7 Mar 18
One of the youngest international offices in the merged Standard Life Aberdeen Group was set up by Aberdeen Asset Management in late 2016, before two businesses combined.
Was it the right decision to set up in the ADGM rather than the DIFC?
First and foremost, we are finding being in the region was a very, very good decision. The number of relationships, the number of touch-points we have with them across the spectrum have been positive. There are some people who increasingly won’t deal with firms unless they have a local presence. If you look at the distributor side, they want people on the ground.
Opening an office in the region was very much a success for us. It is different for every firm, but we are delighted to call the ADGM our home as on top of it, the financial centre was welcoming and reliable while going through the process of opening an office.
There is a fair amount of travel, that is certainly true, but I spend much time travelling to other countries in the region, and that would’ve been the case whether I’d been based in DIFC or ADGM.
In terms of competitors, many of them are at DIFC. Although you don’t need to be based where the competition is, it’s nice to know them and organise informal meeting when we head to Dubai for a refreshment drink after a hot day of meetings or at a conference. You are right to mention Dubai but the people that we are close to are those who would invest, and there are a fair number of them, some quite big investors in Abu Dhabi itself.
The Sheikh Zayed road is quite a dull drive, but it’s nothing particularly complicated, only a 90- minute drive from Abu Dhabi. We’re very happy that ADGM is where we chose to be.
