Dubai’s Magellan Capital launches flagship $975m hedge fund

Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)-regulated investment manager Magellan Capital has launched its flagship multi-strategy hedge fund with $975 million of public markets assets, marking the first time the firm has opened its absolute return platform to third-party capital.

The new vehicle, the Magellan Absolute Return SPC, represents a significant expansion from the firm’s soft launch in August 2024, when it outlined plans for a $700 million multi-strategy hedge fund.

Fund anchored by in-house capital

The fund is currently anchored entirely by in-house capital from Magellan Capital’s ultimate beneficial owner, demonstrating alignment between management and prospective external investors.

The fund deploys a range of public markets strategies, including global macro, emerging market credit, long-only equity and long-short equity. Magellan Capital said the approach is designed to generate uncorrelated, risk-adjusted returns by identifying mispricings arising from structural, behavioural and liquidity-driven inefficiencies across global capital markets.

By offering investors direct exposure alongside the firm’s principal capital, the fund aims to align interests between the manager and its limited partners. The platform is targeted at institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals seeking diversified access to global public markets strategies without the need to build in-house investment capabilities.

Ahmed Omar to lead fund

The Magellan Absolute Return Fund will be led by Ahmed Omar, Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer of Magellan Capital. He is responsible for the firm’s strategic direction, investment activity and institutional growth. The fund is supported by a senior investment team with more than 100 years of combined experience across buy-side and sell-side roles at leading global financial institutions.

“Opening the fund to external capital marks an important milestone for Magellan that will broaden the offering to the investor base,” Omar said. “We built this platform to provide family offices and institutional allocators with institutional-quality access and execution without the overhead of building in-house investment teams. Our multi-asset approach allows us to shift positioning as market conditions evolve, preserving liquidity and maintaining portfolio balance across cycles.”

Magellan Capital is regulated by the DFSA and is headquartered in Dubai, with affiliated offices in London and Abu Dhabi. The firm operates across public and private capital markets, with a focus on high-quality and deep-value opportunities in Europe and the GCC.

The launch underscores Dubai’s growing profile as a hub for global asset management, as regional investment managers increasingly seek to attract international capital through sophisticated, institutionally structured hedge fund platforms.