Vault22 Launches AI-Powered Wealth Platform in UAE with 52 Portfolios and DFSA Registration

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New UAE fintech Vault22 offers 52 investment portfolios and AI financial guidance from a single app.

Vault22 has launched in the UAE as an AI-powered wealth platform that consolidates accounts, assets, and liabilities from multiple financial institutions into one dashboard.
The platform's AI advisor, Tara, analyses spending and investment behaviour to deliver personalised financial guidance and proactive budget and savings nudges.
Vault22 offers 52 diversified investment portfolios, including 26 Shariah-compliant options screened to AAOIFI standards by an independent Shariah Supervisory Board.
Vault22 states it is registered with the Dubai Financial Services Authority and is headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
The company is backed by Standard Chartered's SC Ventures, Old Mutual's NEXT176, and Franklin Templeton, and reports more than one million registered users globally.
Bloomberg has reported that Vault22 is developing a separate Islamic finance platform called Hafiq, featuring AI Shariah screening, a zakat calculator, and ETFs targeting younger investors.

A DFSA-Registered Platform Bringing AI-Driven Wealth Aggregation to the UAE

The UAE's digital wealth management sector continues to attract new entrants, with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) serving as the preferred base for regulated fintech platforms targeting the GCC's growing retail investor population. Vault22, which states it is registered with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), is the latest platform to enter this market, offering a consolidated view of finances for users who hold accounts across multiple banks and institutions.

The launch comes as demand for Shariah-compliant investment portfolios accelerates across the UAE and GCC. Vault22's positioning centres on AI-powered wealth aggregation - combining account data, liabilities, and investment activity in real time - to generate guidance that adapts to each user's financial behaviour and goals. With 52 portfolios, including 26 screened to AAOIFI standards, the platform addresses both mainstream and Islamic finance segments from a single app.

Platform Architecture and the Tara AI Advisor

Vault22 is designed to sit above a user's existing banking relationships rather than replace them. By connecting accounts, investments, credit facilities, and other liabilities into a single dashboard, the platform builds a consolidated financial picture that most individual banks cannot replicate from their own data. Co-founder Stephen Ong told fintechnews.ae that the ability to aggregate data across financial relationships allows the platform to identify genuine user needs and connect clients with appropriate products at the right time.

Central to that experience is Tara, the platform's AI financial advisor. Tara monitors spending patterns and investment activity to produce recommendations on budgeting, debt management, and savings planning. It can forecast potential cash shortfalls, flag idle funds, and align nudges to a user's income cycle - making it a proactive planning tool rather than a passive portfolio tracker. Vault22 says the system responds dynamically to changes in a user's financial behaviour over time.

52 Portfolios, AAOIFI Screening, and the Hafiq Pipeline

Vault22 has expanded its investment menu to 52 diversified portfolios, of which 26 are Shariah-compliant. Those portfolios are screened and monitored according to standards set by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the Bahrain-based standard-setter for Islamic finance. An independent Shariah Supervisory Board oversees compliance and issues opinions - a governance structure that institutional and retail Islamic investors typically require. As Shariah-compliant robo-advisors see record growth across Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Vault22 adds a new multi-portfolio option to a market with limited digitally-native Islamic investing platforms.

Bloomberg has also reported that Vault22 is developing Hafiq, a separate UAE-focused platform aimed specifically at the Islamic finance market. Hafiq is expected to feature an AI Shariah asset-screening tool, a zakat calculator for computing the Islamic charitable obligation on wealth, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs, pooled investment vehicles that trade on a stock exchange). Thematic portfolios targeting millennial and Gen Z investors are also planned, and the company is reported to be in talks with Gulf-based family offices as part of its regional funding strategy.

Investor Backing, Growth Metrics, and the Two-Corridor Strategy

Vault22 emerged from the merger of South African fintech platforms 22seven and Autumn, rebranding under its current name in November 2024. Its investor base includes Standard Chartered's innovation unit SC Ventures, Old Mutual's co-investment vehicle NEXT176, and Franklin Templeton. The company reports more than one million registered users globally, with over 50,000 new registrations in the past 90 days and monthly active users rising 6.92% in February 2026, according to Zawya.

The company's strategic focus runs along two corridors: pan-African digital wealth and Islamic finance across the GCC. The UAE launch, anchored in the DIFC, represents the Islamic finance pillar of that strategy and gives the business a regulated, internationally recognised base for both consumer product delivery and institutional investor engagement. Bloomberg reporting indicates that family office discussions are already under way, suggesting Vault22's ambitions extend beyond retail into Gulf institutional markets.

What This Means for Retail Advisors and Licensed UAE Platforms

For independent advisors and licensed investment platforms in the UAE, Vault22's entry illustrates the direction of travel in digital wealth management. Its account aggregation model addresses a genuine gap - clients who hold positions across multiple banks, investment platforms, or cross-border jurisdictions often have no single view of their net financial picture. Advisors who currently piece this together manually should consider how technology-driven consolidation is reshaping client expectations, particularly among digitally-active professionals. The UAE federal robo-advisory rules for licensed investment managers also set clear governance and investor protection standards that any AI-driven advisory tool operating in this space must satisfy.

The Islamic finance dimension carries equal weight for advisors whose client base includes observant Muslim investors. Vault22's AAOIFI-screened portfolios and independent Shariah board add a compliance credibility layer that is difficult to replicate on a standard platform. The planned Hafiq product deepens the competitive picture further, signalling that the next phase of differentiation in UAE retail investing may be driven by faith-aligned product design rather than fee structures alone. Advisors in this segment should review whether the platforms they currently recommend can match the DFSA regulation and DIFC registration that Vault22 now brings to the market.

What Clients are Asking their Advisors

What is Vault22 and how does it work?

Vault22 is a UAE-based AI-powered wealth platform that aggregates a user's bank accounts, investments, and liabilities into one dashboard. Its AI advisor, Tara, analyses financial behaviour to provide personalised guidance on budgeting, savings, and investing. The platform states it is registered with the DFSA and headquartered in the DIFC.

Is Vault22 regulated in the UAE?

Vault22 states it is registered with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The DFSA is the independent regulator for financial services conducted in or from the DIFC, a designated financial free zone in Dubai. Prospective users should verify active regulatory status directly with the DFSA public register before transacting.

How does Vault22 screen its Shariah-compliant portfolios?

Vault22's 26 Shariah-compliant portfolios are screened and monitored to AAOIFI standards, set by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions. AAOIFI screening typically excludes exposure to interest-bearing financial activities and businesses with significant non-permissible income. An independent Shariah Supervisory Board provides ongoing oversight and issues compliance opinions for each portfolio.

What is Hafiq and how does it differ from Vault22?

Hafiq is a separate UAE-focused platform that Vault22 is reported to be developing for the Islamic finance market, according to Bloomberg. It is expected to include AI Shariah screening, a zakat calculator for computing the Islamic charitable obligation on wealth, and ETF portfolios targeting younger investors. Vault22 is the broader wealth aggregation and investment platform, while Hafiq is designed as a dedicated Islamic finance product for the UAE.