Arada has launched Arada Capital, an ADGM-based investment platform targeting $5 billion AUM within four years, chaired by Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed with Moustafa Fahour as CEO.
July 08, 2026 | Riya Malhotra | UAE | PropTech
Arada has launched Arada Capital, a new funds management platform based in Abu Dhabi Global Market targeting $5 billion in assets under management within four years of the fund's establishment. The platform received In-Principle Approval from ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority and is seeking final licensing to operate as a regulated fund manager.
Once authorised, Arada Capital's funds will be structured to allow institutional and qualified investors to participate directly in Arada's project pipeline as well as broader GCC real estate opportunities. The platform will initially focus on real estate, with plans to progressively expand into infrastructure and broader private market strategies across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the wider region.
The launch marks a substantive strategic expansion for Arada. The Sharjah-headquartered developer has operated primarily as a master-developer through its nine years since founding in 2017, with 11 record-breaking UAE projects, expansion into the UK (Regal, now Arada London) and Australia, and a project pipeline valued at AED 130 billion ($35.4 billion) across approximately 55,000 units.
Arada Capital moves the group into a fundamentally different commercial category, institutional funds management. Rather than developing and selling directly to end-buyers or acquiring assets on its own balance sheet, the new platform structures investment vehicles that pool third-party institutional capital and deploy it into GCC real estate and (eventually) infrastructure opportunities.
The platform's governance and leadership signal the seriousness of the ambition.
HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, Executive Vice Chairman of Arada, will serve as Chairman of Arada Capital. The platform will be governed by an independent board.
Moustafa Fahour OAM has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Arada Capital. Fahour brings more than 20 years of international experience across banking, infrastructure investment, asset management, and public-private partnerships. He has held senior positions at UBS, Citigroup, Macquarie Group, and CIMIC Group. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer of Plenary Middle East, where he led the delivery of major social infrastructure PPP projects including the UAE's first education social infrastructure PPP programme. He will also continue supporting Plenary Middle East in a strategic advisory capacity. Fahour is a current board member of ALEC Holdings PJSC, a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), and founder of the Islamic Museum of Australia.
For UAE real estate professionals, developers, brokers, FM operators, asset managers, and capital markets advisors, three signals stand out from the Arada Capital launch.
For developers, the launch establishes a new category template. Arada is the first major UAE master developer to formally launch a separately branded, regulated funds management platform targeting institutional GCC capital. Expect other tier-one UAE developers (OMNIYAT, Aldar, Damac, Nakheel, Emaar) to evaluate similar structures over the next 12–24 months.
For institutional investors and capital markets professionals, the platform materially expands the regulated GCC real estate investment universe. Arada Capital's $5 billion four-year AUM target, if achieved, would place the platform among the region's more significant institutional real estate managers. For institutional investors currently accessing UAE and GCC real estate through direct developer relationships, ADGM-regulated fund structures provide meaningful governance and transparency advantages.
For the broader UAE PropFinTech and property finance category, Arada Capital extends a pattern REM Times has been tracking, Dubai's tokenised real estate products (Tokinvest, Stake), Capital Hills' equity release service, and now institutional-scale funds management. The UAE real estate sector is progressively developing its financial infrastructure across every tier of investor, from retail to ultra-institutional.
Sources: Arada announcement on the launch of Arada Capital, dated 6 July 2026, distributed via Arada's official corporate communications and reported by The National, Khaleej Times, Reuters, INTLBM, TradingView News, and multiple other outlets.
