(Bloomberg) -- Blue Owl Capital Inc. has hired Haitham Abdulkarim to oversee the company’s institutional business in the Middle East, where he’ll focus on scaling investment and operations teams across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, according to a statement provided to Bloomberg. 

His hire is part of a strategic push by the asset management company to boost its capabilities in the region as it looks to secure capital commitments from family offices, pensions and sovereign wealth funds. He previously served as head of UAE at BlackRock Inc., where he was part of the founding team that established the firm’s first product dedicated to the Middle East, according to the statement. 

“By expanding our on-the-ground capabilities in the market, we will be able to further drive value for our partners in the region,” Blue Owl co-Chief Executive Officers Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz said in the statement.

Read More: Blue Owl Plans to Open Abu Dhabi Office in Middle East Expansion

Firms across the $1.7 trillion private credit market are seeking to build out presences in the Middle East as institutional investors such as Mubadala Investment Co. and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority commit billions of dollars to asset class.

Last September Blue Owl received a $1 billion commitment to the firm’s credit platform from Mubadala, while earlier this year the firm said it was partnering with Abu Dhabi-based investment manager Lunate to buy minority stakes in mid-size asset managers. 

Read More: BlackRock Hunts for Growth in Saudi Arabia Sovereign Wealth Boom

Blue Owl, which oversees $174 billion in assets, is finalizing plans to open its regional flagship office in Abu Dhabi in the coming months, according to the statement, and recently received a license in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

(Updates with Dubai International Financial Centre license details in final paragraph. A previous version of this story was corrected to remove a reference to Lunate being backed by ADQ.)

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