The corporate credit specialist provides investment strategies and solutions for investors and borrowers.
The approval marks a milestone in AGL’s expansion across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
It follows the opening of the firm’s ADGM office in August 2025 and the establishment of AGL Credit Management GCC Limited.
AGL has appointed Michael Phillips as Managing Director to oversee its GCC expansion.
He is based in ADGM and will focus on deepening relationships with institutional investors and advancing new strategic partnerships across the region.
Phillips reports to Kassem Shafi, AGL’s Head of Investor Solutions and Capital Formation.
Before joining AGL, Phillips served as Head of Corporate Credit at the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. Prior to that, he was Head of Credit in the multi-asset Special Opportunities group at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
There, he oversaw a large portfolio of funds, customised platforms, and principal investments, and served on the group’s Investment Committee.
Peter Gleysteen established AGL in 2019 with support from a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). The firm now manages US$25 billion in assets.
Peter Gleysteen
“Securing our ADGM licence represents an important milestone in AGL’s continued growth and reinforces our long-standing commitment to the region,” said Peter Gleysteen, Founder, CEO, and CIO of AGL.
Phillips’s institutional credit experience and knowledge of the regional market, he said, position him well to lead the firm’s next phase of growth.
Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer at ADGM, welcomed AGL to the centre’s financial ecosystem.
He said AGL’s expansion from ADGM highlights Abu Dhabi’s continued pull as a global financial hub.
ADGM, he added, stays committed to helping global financial institutions grow, connect, and access opportunities across the region.
This work, he said, also deepens the sophistication of the UAE’s financial services sector.
A Long-Standing ADIA Relationship
ADIA’s involvement with AGL dates back to the firm’s founding.
A subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund committed US$500 million to AGL’s strategies at launch in 2019. This made it a shareholder in the management company, alongside a large US state pension fund.
AGL has since expanded its institutional backing further.
It struck an exclusive private credit cooperation agreement with Barclays in 2024 and secured a strategic investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives in March 2026.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Philippines based on an image by ittoilmatar via Magnific.
