State Street Discusses UAE Expansion With Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed

The talks covered State Street's expansion plans and the opportunities they would create for Emirati professionals, as well as building local capabilities in technology, artificial intelligence, financial services and emerging sectors, WAM said. The two sides also looked at closer cooperation in investment management, financial technology and capital markets, including areas where new technologies are changing financial services.

WAM did not give details on the size or timing of the expansion, the number of jobs involved, or which business lines would grow.

Sheikh Maktoum pointed to the UAE's continued investment in its financial ecosystem, and the meeting touched on Dubai's efforts to deepen its capital markets. These goals sit within the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, which aims to place the emirate among the world's top four financial centres.

Scale of the Firm

State Street provides investment servicing, investment management, research and trading services to institutional investors. According to WAM, the company had $59.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration and $6.3 trillion in assets under management as of 30 September 2026, and generated record revenue of approximately $14 billion in 2025, up more than 7 percent on the previous year. Its asset management arm, State Street Investment Management, is described as the world's fourth-largest asset manager. The group operates in more than 100 markets with about 51,000 employees, and already has an investment management office in DIFC.

The meeting was also attended by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group; Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs; Malek Al Malek, chairman of TECOM Group; Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing; and Arif Amiri, chief executive of the DIFC Authority.

The discussions come in the same week that DIFC opened Dubai Future Finance Week and J.P. Morgan's private bank opened a DIFC branch, adding to a run of global financial institutions growing their presence in Dubai.