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Guggenheim Partners is eyeing an office in Abu Dhabi, as the contemporary art museum that bears its name prepares to open its doors in the UAE capital next year. The investment management fund, which has some $350 billion in assets under management, has had an outpost in Dubai since 2007, is working on obtaining a license in Abu Dhabi’s finance hub, ADGM, Chief Investment Officer Anne Walsh of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management said in an interview, without giving a timeline.
Walsh is bullish on demand for private credit, calling it “bubbly, but not a bubble.” Guggenheim is preparing to close its fourth private credit fund, for about $4.5 billion, early next year, she said.
The $2 trillion asset class has stirred nerves in recent months, following some high-profile defaults.
“Demand [for private credit]… is going to remain high and dynamic,” Walsh said. Recent defaults are cyclical and the result of risk-taking lenders making loans to high-risk borrowers, who — after a decade of low-cost cash — are now feeling the pinch. “You’re naturally going to see some failures at this time,” she said.
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Guggenheim’s investment management is still run out of offices in the US and Europe, and building up a money management team in the Gulf is a “next step,” Walsh said.
Gulf outposts have traditionally housed client-relations specialists, with active money management run from other hubs. But regulators have put teeth into staffing requirements: To be licensed as an investment manager in Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone, Guggenheim will need a team on the ground managing money, not just relationships.