Arindon, the Bahrain based Investor Relations Company, announced the date of its 5th Annual Conference. The 2012 Investors Conference, sponsored by Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain, is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, January 25th, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Bahrain.
The conference is a well-established event in the MENA calendar for institutional and high-net-worth investors who wish to understand shifts in the global economy and especially the GCC Investment landscape.
Key issues that will be discussed at the conference include, the global outlook for 2012 – will it deliver more gloom for the investor community or will events confound the doom-merchants and turn out to better than expected? Not content with simply questioning gloomy predictions, the conference will focus on how to capitalize on the pockets of opportunities, where the longer-term trends are leading, and what key issues in the MENA region need to be considered in current investment strategies.
Those Euro-Zone leaders still in their jobs after the autumn debt firestorms gave gloomy assessments of the year ahead. The French president warned of the worst economic crisis since WW2. The German chancellor’s New Year speech did away with pleasantries and did not promise a “happy new year”. 2012 would, she said, be even tougher. Similarly, Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong predicted difficult global conditions as Singapore’s GDP slowed to 4.8%. The conference will examine whether investors, bankers and asset managers share the pessimism of the political communities.
“The year ahead may be full of risks. But every downturn produces winners – even in times as difficult as these. The Arindon Investment Conference is a great chance to meet industry experts, compare notes with peers and come away with a sharper focus on the imperatives and opportunities for 2012,” Tijjay Majiyagbe, Director at Arindon, said.
Expert panels with deep knowledge of the MENA landscape will share their findings on the likely trends to emerge in 2012 and explore reasons to be confident as well as cautious.
The conference programme features carefully-selected topics designed to provide valuable insights and new perspectives for GCC based investors: emerging market opportunities, fixed-income alternatives, commodities and the regional impact of global markets. By a combination of expert panels, presentations and networking sessions, delegates can move beyond rhetoric to substance. The conference is an environment where decision-makers and experts can compare strategies and discuss their macro- and micro- views of regional and global markets.
“Whilst the global outlook remains uncertain, there is no doubt that the trillion dollar Gulf market provides opportunities for robust returns, whilst Bahrain has shown its resilience thanks to the underlying fundamentals and strong regulatory environment,” Talal Al Zain, Chief Executive Officer of Mumtalakat, said.
“Therefore this event provides a timely opportunity for the business and investment community to come together and discuss and debate the region’s economic future,” he said.
“Furthermore, transparency and strong corporate governance are more important than ever in today’s economic environment, and therefore it is vital that businesses use platforms such as the 2012 Investors Conference to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to these areas, to provide reassurance to the investor community.”
The three expert panels are sponsored by SICO, Batelco and Alba. Each panel explores a different aspect of the investment outlook for 2012: (1) Market Outlook: where are markets heading in light of the volatile landscape? (2) Capital Markets: what are the causes of the limited growth in the regional debt capital markets? (3) Investors Perspectives: what are leading firms doing to manage investor expectations?
Delegates attending the conference include investors from throughout the GCC and the wider MENA investor community. Speakers and panellists include UHNW retail investors, accredited institutional investors, analysts, PE Industry experts and asset management professionals who will provide a broad and unbiased view of the region’s investment opportunities.
Leading institutions participating in the conference include Mumtalakat, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, NCB Capital, International Capital Market Association, Credit Agricole and Notz Stucki & Cie.
The 2012 Arindon Investor Conference is in strategic partnership with Bahrain Bourse with support from JP Morgan Chase, Bahrain Financial Exchange, Addax Bank, Albaraka Banking Group and DesignGrafix.
“We are grateful to Mumtalakat, for the continued support in making this event possible each year,” said Tijjay Majiyagbe.