Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Executive Council, Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) 2025, has revealed its first lineup of global speakers who will headline this year’s event. Hosted by ADGM, ADFW 2025 will gather leading thinkers, investors, and policy leaders in the UAE capital from 8-11 December for five flagship events.
More than 300 international leaders of firms representing over US$60 trillion in assets under management (AUM) are confirmed to speak at this year’s edition, which will examine how new technologies are impacting the future of finance. This number is expected to increase as more speakers are confirmed, and already surpasses ADFW 2024, which gathered global firms worth US$42.5 trillion in AUM.
The strong lineup of speakers reaffirms ADFW’s status as one of the world’s top financial gatherings and a magnet for international financial leaders. Returning speakers include His Excellency Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and ADGM; His Royal Highness Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, Founder and CEO of KBW Ventures; Ray Dalio, Founder & CIO Mentor of Bridgewater; and Clare Woodman, CEO International at Morgan Stanley.
They will be joined by new speakers such as Harvey Schwartz, CEO of Carlyle; Marc Randolph, Co-Founder of Netflix; Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, CEO of Temasek; Jenny Johnson, President and CEO of Franklin Templeton; Jacques Chappuis, CEO of PGIM; Mohamed Al Mehairi, CEO of Emirates Investment Authority; Dmitry Balyasny, Founder of Balyasny Asset Management; and Stephen Dainton, President of Barclays.
His Excellency Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM, said: “100 days to ADFW and an outstanding lineup of world-class speakers representing trillions of dollars are already confirmed. This highlights how the event has become a dynamic platform where capital connects and where key issues impacting the future of finance will be discussed at the highest level. ADFW’s status as one of the world’s top financial gatherings underscores Abu Dhabi’s prominence as a hub for finance, innovation, and opportunities. We look forward to welcoming the global financial community for another exceptional week in the Capital of Capital.”
This year’s strategic theme, Engineering the Capital Network, reflects how emerging technologies, especially AI and quantum computing, are reshaping modern finance. It also captures the shifting dynamics of global capital flows, with Abu Dhabi at the centre of this new financial gravity. Once primarily a capital exporter, the emirate is now a dynamic hub for two-way capital flows, enabled by leading institutions and ADGM’s world-class international financial centre.
The opening ceremony for ADFW will take place on 8 December, and a Gala Dinner will round off the first day of the conference. During the four days of the event, delegates will be able to participate in returning key events such as Abu Dhabi Economic Forum (ADEF), Asset Abu Dhabi, Fintech Abu Dhabi, RESOLVE and Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum (ADSFF).
Attendees will also be able to join sessions at other events such as the Global Financial Regulators Summit, the Greenwich Economic Forum, the UBS Investor Forum, the International Financial Office Congress, Blockchain Abu Dhabi, the Risk 4.0 Forum, the DLT Foundation Forum and the Islamic Finance Summit. This year’s ADFW will also include several new forums, such as ADFW’s inaugural energy summit, New Energy Finance, held in association with CNBC International, Google’s Finance & Technology Summit (GtFT), the Private Credit Summit in partnership with AIMA (Alternative Investment Management Association), the Infrastructure Summit organised with Mubadala, the Treasury & CFO Summit, GCFC Roundtable, and a Private Wealth Roundtable.
ADFW will announce additional speakers, event partners and agenda highlights in the coming weeks.
For more information and to register your interest, please visit: www.adfw.com.
