The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Prudential Financial (PFI) aimed at expanding Abu Dhabi’s retirement savings, income solutions and reinsurance capacity.
The agreement will see PFI join the emirate’s Fintech, Insurance, Digital and Alternative Assets (FIDA) cluster. FIDA is a strategic initiative led by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and ADIO to develop new financial solutions from Abu Dhabi.
The collaboration focuses on strengthening Abu Dhabi’s insurance and reinsurance capabilities while introducing additional investment management, retirement and income products for institutional and retail clients.
PFI brings its global investment management business, PGIM, and its life insurance and retirement subsidiaries to the initiative.
PFI enters Abu Dhabi with an established track record in cross-border retirement and longevity risk deals, including a recent $4 billion longevity risk transfer with NN Life & Pensions covering about 96,000 policies.
That transaction forms part of more than $45 billion in global reinsurance activity by Prudential since 2011, among them a $27.7 billion longevity agreement with the BT Pension Scheme in the UK.
Through the Abu Dhabi agreement, PFI will expand its presence in the emirate and make use of its regulatory framework, connectivity and access to regional capital pools. ADIO and PFI plan to work with local financial institutions on developing products tailored to regional needs, including scalable retirement and investment solutions for the UAE and the wider GCC.
The partners will also support the creation of income and reinsurance strategies intended to enhance financial security and strengthen risk management practices.
His Excellency Badr Al-Olama, director general of ADIO, said, “Through our collaboration with PFI, we are enabling the development of portable savings systems, deepening reinsurance capacity and creating the financial architecture of the Falcon Economy.”
He said FIDA brings together regulators, global institutions, universities and innovators “to ensure that Abu Dhabi serves as a launchpad for next generation financial solutions” with impact in the emirate and across the region.
PFI and ADIO also intend to focus on skills development in Abu Dhabi’s financial sector. Joint work with universities and research institutions will aim to build expertise in insurance, risk management and financial planning, areas both parties describe as important to long-term sector resilience.
Dylan Tyson, head of PFI’s Global Retirement Center of Excellence, said, “We are proud of this opportunity to partner and help advance Abu Dhabi’s forward-thinking approach to financial innovation, further bridging PFI’s global legacy of US market leadership in the West and the strength of our Japanese businesses in the East.”
According to projections for the FIDA initiative, targeted work on regulatory frameworks, talent pipelines and digital platforms is expected to add AED56 billion to Abu Dhabi’s direct GDP. The program is also forecast to create 8,000 skilled jobs and attract at least AED17 billion in investment.
