The bridge forum where Asian GP track records meet Gulf LP capital, hosted in Abu Dhabi by AVCJ on the strength of 38 years as Asia's premier private equity conference organiser.
The AVCJ Private Equity Forum Abu Dhabi is a single-day, invitation-leaning conference that brings together global and regional private equity GPs, institutional LPs, and advisors to examine investment opportunities at the intersection of Middle Eastern and Asian private capital markets. Now in its second edition (following a 2025 launch), the event is organised by AVCJ under the ION Analytics umbrella and draws on Mergermarket's proprietary deal intelligence to anchor its programming. The Abu Dhabi location is a deliberate strategic choice: Gulf sovereign and institutional capital has become a significant allocation source for Asian GPs, and this forum provides a structured setting to develop those relationships across a single intensive day.
The 2026 agenda runs from breakfast registration at 08:30 to a closing networking reception at 16:35, structured as a sequence of fireside chats and panel sessions with no parallel tracks. Key sessions include:
Moderators from Mergermarket, Debtwire, and Infralogic anchor each session, integrating editorial intelligence into the discussion format.
The attendee mix reflects the event's bridge positioning:
The LP Pass programme, complimentary by invitation for qualifying institutional investors, is designed to attract senior allocators who would not pay a conference fee but whose presence defines the event's value for GPs.
Most Gulf-facing PE conferences approach the region from the inside out, focusing on regional GPs and domestic deal flow. The AVCJ Abu Dhabi Forum approaches it from the outside in: the founding logic is that Asian GPs need structured access to Gulf LP capital, and Gulf LPs benefit from curated exposure to Asian managers they may not encounter through regional events. The AVCJ brand carries genuine weight with Asian GPs, which draws a different speaker and attendee mix compared to events organised by regional bodies. The programming also integrates Mergermarket and Debtwire intelligence, giving sessions a data-grounded character that distinguishes them from relationship-driven roundtables.
The 2026 speaker list includes senior figures from Mubadala Investment Company, Gulf Capital, Affinity Equity Partners, Affirma Capital, Blue Owl Capital, Old Mutual Alternative Investments, Investcorp, Waha Capital, Janus Henderson, Gaocheng Capital, L Catterton, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Navis Capital Partners, Nexus Point, Ardian, HKEX, LGT Capital Partners, TPG NewQuest, Actis, ShawKwei & Partners, Stonepeak, G42, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and IFC. Legal representation includes Cleary Gottlieb and Stephenson Harwood.
Both, by design. The event explicitly targets what its organisers call the "global and regional" split: Asian GPs seeking Gulf LP relationships, Gulf LPs evaluating Asian manager allocations, and pan-emerging-market professionals active in both regions. Practically, participants who operate only in a single geography, whether purely domestic Gulf or purely domestic Asian, will find the cross-border discussion density higher than their typical deal context requires.
This forum is not suited to professionals whose mandate is exclusively domestic GCC private markets with no Asia component. It is also a poor fit for early-stage or venture capital practitioners: the agenda is consistently focused on buyout, growth equity, and infrastructure in mature or maturing markets. GPs not yet raising from institutional LPs, or those seeking deep sector-specific workshops rather than market-level strategy discussions, will find the single-day format too broad for their purposes. The event does not replicate the extended meeting-programme density of a multi-day LP-GP conference such as the SuperReturn series.
AVCJ (Asian Venture Capital Journal) has operated as Asia's leading private equity and venture capital publication and conference organiser for 38 years. Its flagship Hong Kong forum remains the most prominent GP-LP gathering in the Asian PE calendar. The Abu Dhabi Forum represents AVCJ's deliberate expansion into the Gulf, recognising that the capital relationship between Gulf sovereign allocators and Asian managers has grown sufficiently deep to sustain a dedicated annual event.
ION Analytics, the parent organisation under which AVCJ sits alongside Mergermarket, Debtwire, and Infralogic, provides the intelligence infrastructure for the event: data coverage, editorial moderation, and deal analytics that underpin session content. This media-backed model is distinct from pure conference organisers and from industry association events, and it gives the AVCJ forum a more journalistic and data-forward character than relationship-only gatherings in the same geography.
The AVCJ Abu Dhabi Forum occupies a specific and currently undercrowded slot: cross-border LP-GP matchmaking between Gulf capital and Asian strategies, structured around verified deal intelligence rather than pure networking. In its second year, the event has assembled a credible speaker roster that justifies the "bridge" positioning. The single-day format keeps the commitment low for attendees travelling from Hong Kong or Singapore, but it also means the programme moves fast and depth on any individual topic is limited. For Asian GPs beginning a Gulf LP development strategy, this is the most efficient entry point currently available in the Abu Dhabi calendar; for Gulf LPs already active with Asian managers, the value is more in the intelligence sessions than the introductions.
Three pass types are available:
Registration is managed through the ION Analytics Community platform. No third-party booking channel is in use.
Yes. The Virtual Pass is free and includes a live broadcast of all sessions with the ability to submit questions to panellists. On-demand replays become available after the event ends. Community platform access is also included.
Qualifying institutional investors can apply for a complimentary LP Pass via the official event website. The pass provides the same benefits as the Premium in-person pass. AVCJ / ION Analytics reviews applications against eligibility criteria; not all applicants are guaranteed a place.
The 2026 event is held at the Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi on Global Market Street, Al Maryah Island. Al Maryah Island is a 15-minute drive from Abu Dhabi International Airport and is accessible by taxi or ride-hailing services. The hotel has on-site parking.
| Official website | https://community.ionanalytics.com/avcj-private-equity-forum-abu-dhabi-2026 |
| Agenda | https://community.ionanalytics.com/avcj-private-equity-forum-abu-dhabi-2026/agenda |
| Speakers | https://community.ionanalytics.com/avcj-private-equity-forum-abu-dhabi-2026/speakers |
| Pricing and registration | https://community.ionanalytics.com/avcj-private-equity-forum-abu-dhabi-2026/pricing |
| Companies attending | https://community.ionanalytics.com/avcj-private-equity-forum-abu-dhabi-2026/companies-attending |
| 2025 highlights | https://community.ionanalytics.com/avcj-private-equity-forum-abu-dhabi-2026/2025-highlights |