Alternative asset manager Marshall Wace is opening an office in Abu Dhabi, becoming the latest to establish a Middle East presence.
The $70 billion firm will employ six people initially in the Abu Dhabi office, a spokesman confirmed. A partner may also move there, he added.
Marshall Wace also has offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. The firm runs assets across quantitative, systematic and fundamental strategies, specializing in long/short equity. It was the 15th largest hedge fund manager by assets as of June 30, according to Pensions & Investments data.
The firm’s flagship Eureka fund is up 14% this year, the spokesman added.
Marshall Wace was founded in 1997 by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace. Private markets firm KKR acquired a 24.6% stake in Marshall Wace in September 2015, upping its holding to 39.6% as of November 2019, forming a strategic partnership.
Marshall Wace is the latest money manager to put boots on the ground in Abu Dhabi and other Middle East locations. Firms including BlackRock, State Street and PGIM have been putting their plans to tap the Middle East and its assets into place over recent months.
Investment giant General Atlantic is also making a deeper push into the Middle East, with a new office in Abu Dhabi, Bloomberg reported. CEO Bill Ford said in an interview on Bloomberg TV that "The Middle East is the next big entrepreneurial hotspot."
