Assets under management (AuM) across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) climbed to $2.7 trillion in 2025, marking a 10% year-on-year increase and one of the region's strongest annual performances in more than a decade. Yet the numbers tell only part of the story. According to Boston Consulting Group's latest Global Asset Management Report 2026, the industry is approaching a turning point where future growth will be driven less by rising markets and more by firms' ability to attract investors, harness artificial intelligence, and build stronger distribution networks. As competition intensifies globally, the report suggests that GCC asset managers have an opportunity not only to capitalise on the region's expanding wealth but also to redefine how investment businesses are built and scaled.
Retail investors are becoming a larger growth engine
Institutional investors continue to dominate the GCC market, accounting for 93% of regional assets under management. However, retail investment is expanding at a much faster pace.
Retail AuM grew 14% in 2025, compared with 9% for institutional assets, suggesting individual investors are gradually playing a larger role in regional capital markets.
Saudi Arabia remains the region's largest retail investment market, leading both the GCC and the wider Middle East in retail mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The UAE and Kuwait follow, while the Kingdom's General Organization for Social Insurance Public Pension Agency (GOSI-PPA) remains the region's largest pension fund. Kuwait Investment Authority continues to hold the largest pool of externally managed sovereign wealth assets in the GCC.
