Partners Capital, a London-based investment firm, has opened an office in Abu Dhabi and teamed up with a local business alliance to guide family-owned companies on improving their financial strategies.

The firm, which has $75 billion under management and specializes in advising university endowments, foundations and family offices, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Family Business Council on Monday during a launch event at the St. Regis Abu Dhabi hotel. Among its clients are the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the Guggenheim Foundation and New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

Welcoming the investment firm on behalf of the government was Zaki Nusseibeh, Cultural Advisor to President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Chancellor of UAE University, who said the country is focused on supporting private businesses as it pushes to diversify the economy beyond oil.

“It is the private sector that will be driving growth from now on,” Nusseibeh said.

Family-owned businesses dominate much of the UAE economy, controlling major interests in sectors including retail, real estate, logistics, banking and industry. In recent years, both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have seen an influx of family investment offices from abroad, drawn by low taxes, light regulation and access to large pools of Gulf money.

Partners Capital CEO Arjun Raghavan said in an interview with The Circuit that the firm decided to go ahead with opening the Abu Dhabi office despite concerns about regional instability stemming from the Iran war.

“The question is: should we hit the pause button given what’s happened?” Raghavan said. “And our view was, it doesn’t make any sense to pause. This is what we want to do long-term, and now is as good a time as any.”

Dubai is courting Cartier as it looks for ways to enhance its luxury sector amid headwinds from ongoing regional conflict.

That was evident in the enthusiastic reception Louis Ferla, CEO of the luxury French jewelry brand, received when he visited Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, UAE Minister of Finance and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, on Saturday.

“Innovation and design are essential to enhancing the competitiveness of Dubai’s luxury retail sector and developing shopping experiences that meet the aspirations of its residents and visitors from around the world,” Sheikh Maktoum said in an X post.

Dubai’s zeal for luxury brands has taken a hit from the Iran war, which has dampened consumer confidence and dramatically slashed tourism.

Cartier’s most recognizable piece, the minimalist “Love” bracelet that starts at more than $5,000, is a regular feature on the wrists of wealthy Gulf nationals and expats.

Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser says no one should expect the oil market to rebound anytime soon. After the loss of 1 billion barrels with the near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, the vulnerability of global energy supplies is clear.

“The market will not rebalance overnight,” Nasser said Sunday, adding that any opening of Gulf shipping lanes will take time to make a substantial difference.

Prospects are dim even though Aramco reported a 26% jump in first-quarter net income to $33.6 billion, driven by higher crude prices as traders scrambled to price in war risk and supply shortages across the Gulf, Reuters reports.

Aramco has been rerouting exports through its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to bypass Hormuz, helping Saudi Arabia keep oil flowing while attacks and shipping restrictions disrupted normal Gulf traffic.

The outlook for oil prices is hazier with the UAE’s pullout from OPEC after years of friction with Saudi Arabia and other producers over the enforcement of supply quotas to keep prices up.

DP World, the Dubai-owned port operator that handles 10% of all global container traffic, is introducing a war-risk insurance plan aimed at companies suffering cargo losses connected to the Iran conflict.

With some 1,500 vessels immobilized by the two-month-old blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, DP World’s insurance plan will offer as much as $400 million per shipment, according to the state-run Emirates News Agency.

Policies, which cover shipping, air freight and trucking routes, also apply to the Red Sea, which has periodically been blocked by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Meanwhile, UAE’s national oil company ADNOC has kept some LNG exports moving through the strait by going dark – instructing tankers to switch off their tracking signals so they pass undetected through the Gulf waters, Bloomberg reports.

As the Gulf states have managed to transport petroleum and gas overland across the Arabian Peninsula to reach foreign ports, Iran has also been shifting more trade with China onto rail lines to get around a U.S. counter-blockade on its shipping routes, according to Bloomberg. 

G42, the UAE’s government-backed artificial intelligence company, is moving forward with expansion plans in the U.S. by opening a new data center in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A unit of the Abu Dhabi-based firm, Core42, leased space in a converted office tower in the Midwest city that is being redeveloped into an AI data center, as it seeks a bigger foothold in the U.S. market amid surging demand for high-speed computing, Bloomberg reports.

The Minnesota project is part of the strategy pursued by G42 Chairman Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE’s National Security Advisor, to turn the company into a global AI leader through partnerships with U.S. technology firms, including Microsoft and OpenAI.

G42, which is also operating in California, Texas and New York, announced in February that it’s leading a $1 billion project in Vietnam to build data centers and provide cloud computing services.

At the Milken Institute’s Global Conference 2026 in Los Angeles this week, Mubadala Deputy Group CEO Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi said that disruptions from the ongoing conflict with Iran won’t stop the sovereign wealth fund – which holds a minority stake in G42 – from increasing its investments in the U.S.

The commercial launch of Riyadh Air, the new carrier backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is facing delays because of hold-ups in certification of its new jets by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The airline was supposed to start taking delivery of its Boeing  787 widebody aircraft last year, but only a handful of the planes have been assembled and they are still awaiting certification, Bloomberg reports.

The certification process has dragged on for months longer than expected and the FAA has not given a fresh timeline for final approvals, the news agency reports.

Riyadh Air, which has not yet given an exact date for its planned 2026 launch, signed deals for more than 39 Boeing 787-9 models, with options for 33 more. It also has orders for 100 narrow and widebody aircraft from Airbus, which are yet to be delivered. 

The UAE said it’s going to build a free zone in Abu Dhabi designed to attract foreign defense manufacturers, acting days after Iran renewed attacks on its oil installations.

The industrial complex in the capital city’s Al Selmiyyah district will be developed in partnership with Abu Dhabi-backed AD Ports and coordinated with state-owned military contractor EDGE and ADNOC, the national oil company, according to a statement published by the Emirates News Agency on Wednesday.

“The initiative marks a significant step in advancing the UAE’s efforts to build an advanced and sustainable national defense industrial base that strengthens national security and enhances long-term defense readiness,” the UAE’s Tawazun Council for Defense Enablement said in the statement.

The project was announced in Abu Dhabi at the “Make it in the Emirates” expo after Bloomberg reported that senior UAE officials have held preliminary talks on creating a new investment vehicle to buy stakes in foreign defense companies. Among those reported to have participated were Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed and Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

Investors in Wynn Resorts will be looking for answers this week about whether the Las Vegas-based casino operator will delay next year’s planned opening of its $5.1 billion UAE project because of the Iran war.

The company issued a statement in March that the conflict had briefly interrupted construction and that some employees were being offered to work abroad.

Now – after the UAE was attacked again this week by Iranian drones – Wynn is contemplating postponing its target opening in the spring of 2027, Bloomberg reports. Company executives will be questioned by investment bank analysts on Thursday when Wynn reports earnings.

The Wynn Al Marjan Island has been positioned as a catalyst for a wider investment boom in the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, attracting luxury developers, hotel operators and retailers to the northern emirate. The resort is planned to include more than 1,500 rooms, a marina, shopping district and the Gulf’s first regulated gaming venue.

The UAE has pressed ahead with legalized gaming despite concerns elsewhere in the Gulf about casinos. Wynn rival MGM Grand is building a hotel in Dubai. 

The government created a regulatory authority in 2023 to license casinos, lotteries, sports betting, online gaming, and integrated resorts. Wynn Resorts received the country’s first commercial gaming license in 2024.