Second Quarter | 2025

Occasionally an announcement is large enough that you read it twice to make sure you have understood it. The AI acceleration partnership signed by the UAE and the US in May is one of those. At its centre is a 5GW AI data centre campus in Abu Dhabi, projected to be the largest such facility outside the US. We believe this may turn out to be one of the most consequential agreements the UAE has signed. This Think Piece sets out why. The agreement strengthens the UAE's strategic alignment with the US and drives investment, labour and productivity. This supports equity valuations through deepening capital markets and stronger growth across financial services, real estate, and technology-adjacent sectors. The future of AI remains genuinely uncertain. But the UAE is positioning itself for a world in which AI matters enormously, and many of our holdings are positioned to benefit.