Ignite LP: Inside Abu Dhabi’s Capital Ecosystem with Rajesh Ranjan | Ep 242

Episode notes

In December, while most of the world was winding down, Abu Dhabi was doing the opposite. Formula One. Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Global allocators flying in and out. And a Financial Times headline calling it the “Capital of Capital.” Behind the spectacle is something quieter—and more powerful: a disciplined machine for allocating long-term capital. In our latest Ignite LP conversation, Rajesh Ranjan, Head of Investments at Ali & Sons Holding, pulls back the curtain on how Gulf family offices really think, decide, and deploy. If you don’t have time for the full episode, here’s what matters. From Farming Fields to Family Office Capital Rajesh didn’t grow up around capital pools. He grew up in a farming family in India. He became a chartered accountant because it was the most affordable way to continue his education. He trained in public equities, worked through the 2008 crisis at UBS, and eventually moved into the Gulf family office world—spending over a decade inside capital allocators across Oman, Saudi, and the UAE.