Unlocking (Un)Limited Partner Opportunities: Navigating the Indo-Gulf Investment Corridor
LPs be it institutional or family offices have a critical role in fostering cross-border investments between India and the GCC. With the thriving trade and alternative investment ecosystems in both markets, LPs are uniquely positioned to capitalise on high-growth sectors, emerging startups, and infrastructure projects. How can investors on both sides of the Arabian Sea identify key investment opportunities, regulatory landscapes, risk mitigation, and ESG-driven strategies that align with evolving market dynamics?
Land as a Magnet: Real Estate Play
Real estate has sprung up as the new propeller of investments in both directions. While Gulf based HNI community have long been a key customer base for real estate development in India, the Indian UHNI have taken fancy to properties in the middle east, especially Dubai. This is driving a new wave of cross border capital flow. Family offices also see real estate investments as another asset class and geographical diversification within the same asset to derisk capital allocation. How is the playbook evolving for real estate investments?
Seeding Venture Ecosystems: Cross Border Startup Opportunity
New age ventures in the Gulf have emerged as a real world opportunity with digitisation and changing channels of consumption. At the same time, Indian venture ecosystem has evolved to become one of the top three in the world with its vibrancy and source of talent driving innovation around the world. The launch of UAE-India CEPA Start-up Series has also been attracting high-potential Indian startups into its innovation ecosystem with funding, mentorship and more. How do LPs see the VC opportunity and how do GPs look at expanding the mandate to include India to the mix?
The Capital Silk Route: UAE–India as Gateways to Asia & Africa
The India UAE corridor is seen reshaping alternative investments by leveraging the strategic geographic and economic strengths of both regions. This modern Silk Route goes beyond historical trade to function as a dynamic infrastructure and connectivity nexus bridging Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. For alternative investors, it offers opportunities to back infrastructure, renewable energy projects, logistics hubs, technology startups, and cross-border trade platforms that capitalize on growing demand across Asia and Africa.
Fixed Income Playbook with Private Credit
The fixed income market in the Gulf has been evolving amid global economic shifts, geopolitical uncertainties, and monetary policy changes. The GCC and Egypt, as part of MENA, are becoming increasingly attractive to LPs due to tightening credit regulations and better bankruptcy and insolvency laws. Although, still at a nascent stage with AUM of just around $5 billion, this is projected to more than double by FY30, catalysed by increasing activity of international private credit funds as well as local banks and funds due to tightening credit conditions, stricter bank regulations and a reduction in spare capital available to SMEs. The rise of Indian private credit market holds lessons for expanding the growth metrics in Gulf.
Optimising Tax Residency
Taxation is a key consideration for personal and generational wealth management. HNIs and family offices in India can take advantage of double tax avoidance treaty with UAE and other provisions to legally reduce their tax outgo. This may involve use of tax efficient structures in GCC’s free zones. How can family offices leverage the tax friendly ecosystem in the Gulf to park and use it as a hub for global asset allocation?
Conglomerates Degree of Exposure: Risk Management & Asset Classes
Large diversified business groups in the Gulf have their own mini proprietary private equity investment franchise. Some groups have a clear policy of not investing in sectors where they have their own business to add a sound diversified portfolio creation. How effective is this strategy and are their exceptions that one should exploit? Are there other means to play further in the same sector via a different asset class?
Fuelling The Future: Sustainability Quotient Via Investments
India and the GCC region together represent a compelling frontier for sustainability-focused investments, driven by aligned climate commitments, strategic geographic linkage, and complementary economic strengths. Renewable energy, sustainable urbanization, digital transformation, and circular economy innovations is the core for both the regions. How can investors capitalise on scalable assets leveraging India’s net-zero goals and GCC Vision 2030 program?
High-Impact Investment Opportunities: Sectoral Insights and Growth Horizons
The GCC region and UAE in particular offers multiple sectors to choose from a risk diversification perspective for alternative investors. Be it real estate and infrastructure via platforms, renewable energy, technology, healthcare, financial services, tourism and the ever growing affluent consumer class, the market is no longer anchored on construction as it was four decades ago. How do investors look at the new sectoral outlook for the region and how are they allocating money to gain from the opportunities?
Case for Alternatives: Making PE-VC an Attractive Option
Private equity and venture capital are still nascent asset classes for investors in the gulf. While the sovereign funds do dominate in decibel levels by their huge corpus and hectic investment activity around the world, GPs are slowly making their presence felt in the Gulf. Although exit windows are fewer than those in emerging markets like India, fund managers have created some showcase exits to offer outsized gains. What more can GPs do to attract LPs and what are the lessons and learnings from India that itself went through a long period of low or now returns before becoming a go-to market for global LPs?
Ajit Kumar leads Evolvence India Fund, an India focused niche and differentiated PE Fund sponsored by New York Life Insurance/Gold Point Partners and Evolvence Asset Management. He is responsible for the core operations of the fund, from deal originations to exit as well as investor relations and regulatory compliance. During his investment career spread over 25 years he has been involved in Private Equity investments in more than 175 funds, direct and co-investments across various themes and strategies, sectors and geographies. He represents EIF on the Advisory Boards, Investment Committees and board of the various investments. He holds a MBA from London Business School.
Rajesh Ranjan is the Head of Investments at Ali & Sons Holding, a leading Abu Dhabi-based family conglomerate with diversified operations across automotive, oil & gas, construction, real estate, and capital management. He oversees the group’s global investment program spanning private equity, venture capital, private credit, alongside strategic M&A and co-investment initiatives.
With more than two decades of investment experience, Rajesh has led fund allocations to top-tier global managers, executed direct secondaries and co-investments, and built a robust governance framework for multi-asset portfolios. He has also spearheaded cross-border M&A transactions and strategic partnerships in the Middle East, U.S., and Asia, often linking operating businesses with investment opportunities.
Rajesh is a CFA and CAIA charterholder, with an MBA in Finance. He brings a unique perspective as both an allocator and corporate strategist, bridging capital across geographies while driving long-term value creation and sustainability.
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