AGL Credit Management Wins ADGM Approval in Abu Dhabi

AGL Credit Management has been approved by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the regulator within Abu Dhabi Global Market, to carry out regulated financial activities. The firm, a specialist in corporate credit, builds investment strategies and financing solutions for institutional investors and borrowers.

The licence marks a milestone in AGL's expansion across the Gulf Cooperation Council. The firm opened an ADGM office in August 2025 and established AGL Credit Management GCC Limited to anchor its regional business.

Michael Phillips has been appointed Managing Director to oversee that growth. He is based in ADGM and reports to Kassem Shafi, AGL's Head of Investor Solutions and Capital Formation. Phillips will concentrate on building closer ties with institutional investors and advancing strategic partnerships in the region.

Phillips moved to AGL from the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, where he served as Head of Corporate Credit. Earlier in his career he was Head of Credit in the multi-asset Special Opportunities group at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, overseeing a large portfolio of funds, customised platforms, and principal investments, and serving on the group's Investment Committee.

AGL was founded in 2019 by Peter Gleysteen with support from a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. At launch, that subsidiary committed US$500 million to AGL's strategies and took a shareholding in the management company, alongside a large US state pension fund. AGL now manages US$25 billion in assets.

Gleysteen, AGL's founder, CEO and CIO, called the ADGM licence a milestone in the firm's continued growth and a reflection of its long-standing commitment to the region. He said Phillips's institutional credit experience and regional market knowledge position him well to lead AGL's next phase.

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM, welcomed AGL into the centre's financial ecosystem. He said the firm's expansion from ADGM highlights Abu Dhabi's continuing pull as a global financial hub. ADGM, he said, is committed to helping global financial institutions grow, connect, and find opportunities across the region, work that also deepens the sophistication of the UAE's financial services sector.

ADIA has been tied to AGL since the firm's founding. Beyond the 2019 investment and shareholding, AGL signed an exclusive private credit cooperation agreement with Barclays in 2024 and received a strategic investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives in March 2026.

The ADGM approval places AGL inside a growing cluster of private credit managers in Abu Dhabi. Sovereign capital, a deeper institutional investor pool, and a regulator actively courting credit managers give the emirate a clear edge as a base for Gulf-wide lending deals. The firm has the licence and the mandate; the next step is converting both into a pipeline of regional transactions.