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7 November 2019 Dubai, UAE

Wealth & Society Middle East 2019

The road towards a more sustainable society



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Wealth and Society ME 2019

Featuring thought leaders on philanthropy and impact investment

Dialogues on trends that are transforming how wealth is generated and preserved for the betterment of society

Network with wealth experts from around the globe

If you would like to use your wealth to be relevant to society and take advantage of all the innovations in wealth creation, this conference is for you.

Event Details

The road towards a more sustainable society

Despite the drop of oil prices, fortunes are growing faster in the Middle East than in any other part of the world. According to recent reports, private wealth in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) is expected to reach $11.8 trillion by 2020, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Kuwait accounting for over 22% of the total.

Growth of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in Middle East and Africa is expected to rise by 6% annually until 2023. Asia Pacific, Latin America, MEA and Eastern Europe are set to account for over half of global wealth growth over the next five years, according to a recent study. Rising fortunes in the Middle East are driving the private-banking market toward socially responsible investing, Islamic products and more digital tools.

Impact Investing has gained influence over the past few years and there is a growing demand for such investments around the world. However, the Middle East is still at an early stage of adopting such strategies into their investment portfolios. The lack of awareness for such a mixed model, potential for social impact, and a lack of enabling legal and regulatory environment have been the primary reasons for the small influence of this concept. After all, clear and definite opportunities lie in building scalable rural livelihoods, basic healthcare and education which are the major issues targeted by social investments across the Middle East.

Yet Indonesia faces several challenges. Most domestic capital has concentrated in mainstream private equity, sovereign debt, or philanthropy, very few investors in Indonesia have a full-time local presence, which limited interactions with potential investees. Furthermore, except for one disclosed deal, there are no records of exits from impact investments in Indonesia. Data on returns remain limited.

Wealth & Society Middle East 2019 will bring together a wide range of high-profile senior executives, retail banks, asset management companies, influential investors, sovereign wealth fund directors, philanthropists and other industry professionals to discuss the current situation of the wealth management industry, analyze the obstacles it’s facing and foreseeing new opportunities.

  • The challenge of building sustainable cities
  • Middle East foundations collaborating with national governments
  • Regional perspectives on how high net-worth individuals give back to society
  • Analyzing measurement and evaluation of impact in the Middle East
  • Family businesses exploring impact investing as means of innovative financial mechanisms
  • Main barriers and opportunities in deploying impact investment
  • Next generation of HNWI’s growing interest in philanthropy
  • Analyzing the Islamic traditions of giving: Zakat, Waqf & Sadaqa
  • How to face risk when developing an impact investing strategy
  • Using technology to redefine the future of impact investments
  • High-net-worth individuals who are serious in the deployments of wealth into impact investing
  • Private bankers and family offices
  • Foundations and philanthropic organisations
  • Digital wealth and technology startups
  • Professional service providers, lawyers and accountants
  • And anyone who is interested in redefining wealth
The road towards a more sustainable society

Despite the drop of oil prices, fortunes are growing faster in the Middle East than in any other part of the world. According to recent reports, private wealth in the Middle East and Africa (MENA) is expected to reach $11.8 trillion by 2020, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Kuwait accounting for over 22% of the total.

Growth of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in Middle East and Africa is expected to rise by 6% annually until 2023. Asia Pacific, Latin America, MEA and Eastern Europe are set to account for over half of global wealth growth over the next five years, according to a recent study. Rising fortunes in the Middle East are driving the private-banking market toward socially responsible investing, Islamic products and more digital tools.

Impact Investing has gained influence over the past few years and there is a growing demand for such investments around the world. However, the Middle East is still at an early stage of adopting such strategies into their investment portfolios. The lack of awareness for such a mixed model, potential for social impact, and a lack of enabling legal and regulatory environment have been the primary reasons for the small influence of this concept. After all, clear and definite opportunities lie in building scalable rural livelihoods, basic healthcare and education which are the major issues targeted by social investments across the Middle East.

Yet Indonesia faces several challenges. Most domestic capital has concentrated in mainstream private equity, sovereign debt, or philanthropy, very few investors in Indonesia have a full-time local presence, which limited interactions with potential investees. Furthermore, except for one disclosed deal, there are no records of exits from impact investments in Indonesia. Data on returns remain limited.

Wealth & Society Middle East 2019 will bring together a wide range of high-profile senior executives, retail banks, asset management companies, influential investors, sovereign wealth fund directors, philanthropists and other industry professionals to discuss the current situation of the wealth management industry, analyze the obstacles it’s facing and foreseeing new opportunities.

  • The challenge of building sustainable cities
  • Middle East foundations collaborating with national governments
  • Regional perspectives on how high net-worth individuals give back to society
  • Analyzing measurement and evaluation of impact in the Middle East
  • Family businesses exploring impact investing as means of innovative financial mechanisms
  • Main barriers and opportunities in deploying impact investment
  • Next generation of HNWI’s growing interest in philanthropy
  • Analyzing the Islamic traditions of giving: Zakat, Waqf & Sadaqa
  • How to face risk when developing an impact investing strategy
  • Using technology to redefine the future of impact investments
  • High-net-worth individuals who are serious in the deployments of wealth into impact investing
  • Private bankers and family offices
  • Foundations and philanthropic organisations
  • Digital wealth and technology startups
  • Professional service providers, lawyers and accountants
  • And anyone who is interested in redefining wealth

Past Speakers and Moderators

Thierry-Sanders
CEO
Mekar
Hizkia Gouw
Principle Architect,
HGarchitects
Mahendra Datu
Business Development Advisor
PT Bintraco Dharma Tbk
Dewi Elyana
Chief of Advocacy and Outreach,
Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF)
Tiara Azarine Utomo
Sustainable Finance Support Specialist,
UNDP
Ryan Roth
CEO, Kabu & Co. & Founder,
TEDxCanggu & Economist & Cultural Anthropologist
Ara Kusuma
Co-founder and Facilitator,
TeenChanger & Fellowship and Youth Programme, Ashoka Indonesia
Rizal Malik
CEO,
WWF-Indonesia Foundation
Mason Tan
Founder & CEO,
Garden Impact Investments Pte. Ltd
Dini Widiastuti
Executive Director,
Yayasan Plan International Indonesia
Urs Bolt
Advisor,
Wealth & Society Programme
Gordian Gaeta
Chairman,
Wealth & Society Programme.
Mr. Urs Bolt
Advisor,
Wealth & Society Programme

Mr. Bolt has more than 25 years of experience as a senior banker working in the financial services industry, most recently at Credit Suisse. He focuses on wealth management, investment banking, risk & regulation, and financial technology business and his expertise centres on developing and launching new digital business platforms and establishing prime services for high net-worth and ultra-high-net worth clients. His focus is to help financial technology (fintech) and regulatory technology companies and financial service providers review/refocus business strategies, develop products and markets, execute sales, scout for fintech solutions and start-ups, build business partnerships, and implement corporate structures and process.

Thierry Sanders
CEO,
Mekar

Hizkia Gouw
Principle Architect
HGarchitects

Hizkia Gouw is an award-winning Architect & Interior Designer. He is the Principal of HGarchitects, a multi-disciplinary design practice in Jakarta.

He spent his career in design and construction industry in Australia and Indonesia. He involved in varieties of projects in many countries such as Australia, China, Indonesia, and Singapore; from large scale project of luxury resort master planning and urban revitalization project to smaller scale of retail projects and interior design works.

Last year he was selected as an 'Australia Awards Indonesia 2018’ Awardee. He was chosen as one of twenty-six Indonesian outstanding business leaders of Australian Universities’ alumni.

Mahendra-Datu
Business Development Advisor
PT Bintraco Dharma Tbk

Dewi Elyana
Chief of Advocacy and Outreach,
Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF)

Dewi Elyana has been working in the humanitarian and development areas for over 16 years. She started her career as the National Development Officer in an International Non-Governmental Organisations based in Los Angeles, United States. She has expertise in liaising with stakeholders especially the government. She facilitated separate REDD+ Academy courses for Indonesian parliamentarians and their expert staffs, and the media when she worked with the United Nations Office for REDD+ Coordination in Indonesia. Elyana joined the TLFF Secretariat as the Chief of Advocacy and Outreach.

Tiara Azarine Utomo
Sustainable Finance Support Specialist,
UNDP

Ryan Roth
CEO, Kabu & Co. & Founder,
TEDxCanggu & Economist & Cultural Anthropologist

Ryan Roth has been in the coffee business for a number of years, was the global MD for an architecture firm while he spoke at the Shell Future cities program and advised on the future of urban design. He also owns an art company and has spent his life looking at solving problems, while the biggest problem he believes in the world today, is global food security and by solving that, you will solve a host of other global issues, including climate change, poverty and regional security. His company, Kabu & Co. solves those problems.

Rizal Malik
CEO,
WWF-Indonesia Foundation

Rizal Malik is CEO of WWF-Indonesia Foundation. In this role, he has a mandate to bring WWF-Indonesia into the foremost conservation organization in an effort to protect Indonesia's ecosystems and biodiversity in a sustainable and equitable manner, for the welfare of present and future generations. Much earlier, Malik had served as Assistant to Country Director and Chief Executive Officer of Transparency International Indonesia. He also served as Chief Operating Officer at the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia (Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia) and served as Oxfam Britain Indonesia's Country Manager Program. In addition, Malik has served as Senior Advisor for social policy at the United Nations Support Facility for Indonesian Recovery, a joint project of the UNDP-Government of Indonesia to develop strategic policies to deal with long-term political and economic crises in 1998. He also served as the advisor World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Ara Kusuma
Co-founder and Facilitator,
TeenChanger & Fellowship and Youth Programme, Ashoka Indonesia

Mason Tan
Founder & CEO,
Garden Impact Investments Pte. Ltd

Mason Tan is founder & CEO at Garden Impact Investments Pte. Ltd. He also currently serves as the Chairman of Transformational Business Network Asia (“TBN Asia”), a non-profit association headquartered in Singapore that promotes fighting poverty through business enterprises solutions. Prior to this, Tan had worked in a Big 4 public accounting firm in the US, securities and money broking firm in Indonesia, Corporate Finance Manager cum Investor Relations for a NYSE listed company based in Singapore, CFO of an internet venture funded by VCs and an Indonesian fiber manufacturing plant. From 2004 to 2010, he became an owner/operator for a US F&B master franchise for Singapore and Malaysia and China.

Dini Widiastuti
Executive Director,
Yayasan Plan International Indonesia

Dini Widiastuti is the Executive Director at Yayasan Plan International Indonesia. Sha is also a campaigner for social justice with capacity for strategic leadership, complex programme management. Prior to that, Widiastuti was the Economic Justice Programme Director for Oxfam in Indonesia. Oxfam supports local communities, farmer organisations and small businesses in their engagement with the private sector and government. Oxfam promotes sustainable and pro-poor value chains including palm oil and aquaculture. Widiastuti has almost 20 years of experience in economic development projects throughout Asia covering issues such as sustainable livelihoods, labour rights, private sector accountability, and business & human rights. She was the Executive Director at Indonesia Business Coalition for Women Empowerment.

Gordian Gaeta
Chairman,
Wealth & Society Programme.

Gaeta has been a banking consultant for around 25 years, and is one of Asia’s leading banking consultants and risk control experts. He has advised and served many of the leading financial services organisations across Asia and close to half of the top 100 banks worldwide. He specialises in developing and implementing analytical solutions for complex strategic issues in financial services-related industries undergoing significant change or being exposed to intricate risk issues.

Gaeta has published around 20 articles on banking and financial services and several books, notably “Frontiers in Credit Risk” and “Opportunities in Emerging Markets”. He is also a regular speaker on the international conference circuit, and a Guest Lecturer at several universities.

Emmanuel Daniel
Chairman, The Asian Banker

Founder of The Asian Banker, the most respected provider of consulting and intelligence in the financial services industry in the Asia Pacific region and other emerging markets. Mr. Daniel has led it to become a combination of leading industry research, publication and consulting house, with a strong reputation worldwide.

AGENDA

15:00

Welcome Note

Dr. Gordian Gaeta, Chairman, Wealth & Society Programme.

“Wealth in Middle East: Prospects and Challenges”

Roundtable Dialogue: Middle East’s HNWI seeking impact investing and philanthropy

Impact investing in the MENA is relatively new and it would take some time for the regional investors to establish a track record with financial return and a measured social and environmental impact. On the other side, with the diversification strategy in place, the region offers a more convenient scenario for investors to diversify their portfolio, while it is important to bear that investors pursue opportunities where the impact mission is in line with the financial return pursuit. Additionally, greater awareness of the opportunities to make a positive impact, along with potentially achieving returns will help draw fund managers in this direction.

The culture of giving is deeply integrated in Islam, and Zakat (“that which purifies”) is a religious obligation for those who meet a certain criterion of wealth. The philanthropic sector in the Middle East is still in a nascent and evolutionary phase in this region. The fact that the philanthropic organisations in the Middle East are relatively new means that there is likely to be room for greater development and sophistication in processes, and also in areas of monitoring and evaluation, where there will be more to learn regarding international best practices and procedures.

In this roundtable we will discuss the current wealth management landscape challenges and perspectives for the near future as well as the Middle East’s HNWI seeking impact investing and philanthropy.

  • Analyzing appropriate and innovative ways to remove the bottlenecks present within the current system
  • The challenge of building sustainable cities
  • Middle East foundations collaborating with national governments in legal, financial and practical conditions
  • Regional perspectives on how high net-worth individuals give back to society
  • Analyzing measurement and evaluation of impact in the Middle East
  • Family businesses exploring impact investing as means of innovative financial mechanisms
  • Main barriers and opportunities in deploying impact investment
  • Next generation of HNWI’s growing interest in philanthropy
  • Analyzing the Islamic traditions of giving: Zakat, Waqf & Sadaqa
  • How to face risk when developing an impact investing strategy
  • Using technology to redefine the future of impact investments
  • Generosity and humanitarian aid as national priorities

Session co-chaired by Gordian Gaeta, Chairman, Wealth & Society Programme; and Urs Bolt, Advisor, Wealth & Society Programme

15:00

Welcome Note

Dr. Gordian Gaeta, Chairman, Wealth & Society Programme.
“Wealth in Middle East: Prospects and Challenges”

Roundtable Dialogue: Middle East’s HNWI seeking impact investing and philanthropy

Impact investing in the MENA is relatively new and it would take some time for the regional investors to establish a track record with financial return and a measured social and environmental impact. On the other side, with the diversification strategy in place, the region offers a more convenient scenario for investors to diversify their portfolio, while it is important to bear that investors pursue opportunities where the impact mission is in line with the financial return pursuit. Additionally, greater awareness of the opportunities to make a positive impact, along with potentially achieving returns will help draw fund managers in this direction.

The culture of giving is deeply integrated in Islam, and Zakat (“that which purifies”) is a religious obligation for those who meet a certain criterion of wealth. The philanthropic sector in the Middle East is still in a nascent and evolutionary phase in this region. The fact that the philanthropic organisations in the Middle East are relatively new means that there is likely to be room for greater development and sophistication in processes, and also in areas of monitoring and evaluation, where there will be more to learn regarding international best practices and procedures.

In this roundtable we will discuss the current wealth management landscape challenges and perspectives for the near future as well as the Middle East’s HNWI seeking impact investing and philanthropy.

  • Analyzing appropriate and innovative ways to remove the bottlenecks present within the current system
  • The challenge of building sustainable cities
  • Middle East foundations collaborating with national governments in legal, financial and practical conditions
  • Regional perspectives on how high net-worth individuals give back to society
  • Analyzing measurement and evaluation of impact in the Middle East
  • Family businesses exploring impact investing as means of innovative financial mechanisms
  • Main barriers and opportunities in deploying impact investment
  • Next generation of HNWI’s growing interest in philanthropy
  • Analyzing the Islamic traditions of giving: Zakat, Waqf & Sadaqa
  • How to face risk when developing an impact investing strategy
  • Using technology to redefine the future of impact investments
  • Generosity and humanitarian aid as national priorities

Co-chaired by:
Gordian Gaeta, Chairman, Wealth & Society Programme; and Urs Bolt, Advisor, Wealth & Society Programme

17:00

End of Roundtable
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Savvy Investor is the world's leading knowledge network for institutional investors, curating the best investment news and white papers from around the globe. The research library is made up of 50 topics, including a section enabling members to instantly access the latest Private Wealth and Family Office white papers and a directory of investment conferences. Savvy Investor is entirely free to sign up to, offering all 40,000 members a completely personalised experience based on their topic preferences. Companies can enhance their reputation by publishing research and managing their company page in the Company Directory. Sign up today at www.savvyinvestor.net
Financial Nigeria International is the publisher of Financial Nigeria magazine -- a development and finance journal, published monthly since August, 2008. The company also publishes www.financialnigeria.com. Financial Nigeria is the organiser of the yearly Nigeria Development and Finance Forum, an international colloquium on policy and finance, as well as a platform for the facilitation of FDI into the country. With a team of world class professionals as columnists and writers, Financial Nigeria publications provide authoritative knowledge on the frontier emerging markets of Sub Saharan Africa, with particular attention on Nigeria. Financial Nigeria also distils to its readers around the world global issues and trends in finance and sustainable development. Our print, web and mobile platforms support the marketing communication needs of top local and international businesses and social enterprises, as well as provide media partnerships for conference organisers. www.financialnigeria.com
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