We were delighted to host our inaugural Middle East Independent Wealth Management Forum on March 15, 2023 for the Private Wealth Management Community.
The event was exclusively created for the growing number of independent wealth management firms operating in and setting up in the UAE, including the growing ranks of Multi-Family Offices (MFOs), External Asset Managers (EAMs), Boutique Private Banks and also Independent Financial Advisers. These firms are all keen to enhance their presence and visibility for local, regional and the increasing numbers of international private clients in the region or working through the UAE for their wealth management and structuring needs.
INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM - Dubai 2023
Millennium Plaza Downtown Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza Dubai), United Arab Emirates

A community of leading organisations within Asian Wealth Management

Senior figures in Asian Wealth Management are speaking at this event

Marc-Andre Sola
1291 Group

Mario Timpanaro
AQUIS Capital

Mehrez Kheir
Abbey Road Investment

David Doerig
Corecam

Anita Krishna Gupta
Emirates NBD

Bryan Henning
Eton Solutions

Satyen Patel
Eton Solutions

Philip Rosenberg
GAM Investments
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HUBBIS INVESTMENT FORUM - Hong Kong 2023
Millennium Plaza Downtown Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza Dubai), United Arab Emirates
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8.30am
Registration
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8.55am
Welcome Address
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9.00am
Panel Discussion - in partnership with Saxo Bank
Independent Wealth Mangers – Defining and Refining the Proposition in the UAE
- How is the independent wealth management market developing in the UAE? How did the pandemic effect the opportunity?
- Why did it make sense to set up an office here? – perhaps in addition to Singapore, Hong Kong or Switzerland?
- Other more mature EAM markets such as Singapore & Hong Kong have an industry “Association” – do we think an industry association would be useful in Dubai / UAE?
- Who are the target clients, and what specific requirements do they have?
- What are the regulators and authorities doing to encourage the growth of the independent wealth management community in the UAE?
- How do traditional wealth managers, such as international or local Private Banks, view this development? Will they collaborate or compete?
- What is the UAE doing to increase the quality of local private banking platforms? Are we likely to see more custody here in the future rather than local PBs in Switzerland – Singapore etc?
- Will foreign private banks do more here? Are EAMs forming a larger part of the business for private banks?
- What services can independent wealth managers offer clients in UAE which are unique? For example local markets and IPO access, gold storage, art ect.
- Should there be higher hurdles to setting up an EAM/MFO?
Chair
Speakers
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9.30am
Q&A Interactive Case-Study - HAYAH Insurance: Building a cutting-edge digital life insurer
Chair
Speakers
HAYAH Insurance, the UAE-based life insurer, recently partnered with Kidbrooke to build engaging self-service investment journeys with OutRank®, the financial simulation engine driving Hayah's new goals-based financial planning experiences.
- Join the discussion of the role of financial simulation and forecasting in delivering a superior customer experience.
- Hear about why realistic simulation and forecasting is a core aspect of generating demand for financial services, and why the quality of modelling matters.
- Learn about the practicalities of an international technology partnership, and how it can help realise a powerful vision for the future of investment services.
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9.45am
Panel Discussion
Independent Wealth Managers – Getting it right and Growing the Business
- Why set up an EAM/MFO?
- What is the nature of a sustainable platform? And the challenges of creating a successful and profitable business?
- What are the business models that are relevant to this segment?
- How can you build and retain the right talent to compete effectively?
- How are the specific requirements of clients changing? Why do they use an EAM / MFO?
- How can you find the right type of RMs to join the team? Why should they join and EAM?
- Who do you partner with for success? Platforms / Investments / Tech / Professional Services
- MFO vs SFO - How does a client choose?
- Execution and Custody - What are the choices?
Chair
Speakers
Mithun GhoshHead of Client Coverage, Asia & Middle East, Group Chief Risk Officer
Taurus Wealth Advisors
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10.15am
Presentation - How can a Wealth Protection Plan help you navigate the many challenges today?
In today‘s world UHNW families are exposed to many challenges that potentially destroy their wealth - global fiscal controls, international transparency, cross boarder regulations and political uncertainty – to name a few. As Professionals we face overwhelming legal and reputational risks. How can a solid Wealth Protection Plan help overcome these issues?
- What does Wealth Protection Planning mean?
- How does a great Wealth Protection Plan help clients and Professionals!
- What solutions are available and how are they different?
- What are the highlights of the most complete Wealth Protection Plan?
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10.30am
Presentation - How are investors engaging China in the year of the Rabbit?
- How is China emerging form Covid-19 restrictions? Will this super-charge the economy?
- Where do you find the best value this years and what are the risks to avoid?
- What is GAM’s approach to maximising this opportunity?
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10.45am
Presentation - Lumen Vietnam – Investment Pearl in Southeast Asia
- China Plus One Strategy: Vietnam
- Macro Insights
- Why Vietnam? Vietnam is an excellent diversification for your portfolio
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11.00am
Refreshment & Networking
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11.30am
Presentation - Why does the world need Wealth advisors?
- Advisors and private wealth managers face an increasingly challenging external operating environment. What are the main challenges?
- Which focus does the industry have on helping clients understand their investing mentality and emotional state over time as an investor? What is the risk of a product-focus game?
- How can advisors become even more client-focused and create a better financial future for their clients?
- What does the modern advisor’s digital toolset look like, and what should it look like? Digital communication throughout the investment life cycle, central portfolio management and AI are some of the new ways to provide investment advice or managed investment solutions.
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11.45am
Presentation - Transforming a Family Office to Reimagine the Value it Delivers
- Setting up a family office to deliver scalable advantage for tomorrow
- Using technology to create operational leverage and efficiencies
- Digitalising governance functions within the Family Office and across family members and key advisors
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12.00pm
Panel Discussion
Curating and Delivering Independent Advice
- What must you offer to deliver a genuinely client-first advisory offering?
- Is the client happy to pay a fee for advice, and what are the key trends emerging?
- How would you explain your value proposition? How can you differentiate yourself?
- Do you need an investment adviser or CIO to run a meaningful and effective boutique independent wealth management firm in the UAE?
- How do you manage risk, curate research and deliver the best asset allocation?
- What are the implications of regulatory initiatives in the UAE and more broadly in the region?
- Where do you get the best inputs when considering the advice that you give to clients?
- How do professional services firms help when curating ‘genuine’ independent advice to clients?
Chair
Speakers
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12.30pm
Presentation - Creating alpha with data-driven investments in private credit
- Data-driven investing is no longer exclusive to public markets. Using the power of big data and artificial intelligence, investors can now reap large yields from private assets such as consumer and MSMEs loans.
- In fact, in a year fraught with uncertainty - 2022 - we were able to achieve an 11.6% annual return for our private credit notes along with 160% collateral cash coverage.
- By leveraging artificial intelligence software that mines loan repayment data for small loans over short tenures, it is possible to establish a reliable cash flow baseline used as collateral; creating lucrative fixed income opportunities previously only available to banks.
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12.45pm
Panel Discussion - in partnership with GAM Investments
Curating winning client portfolios following a challenging year
- What are the opportunities and challenges for the year ahead?
- How are you managing risk in 2023? Is it time to take on more risk?
- What's your favourite asset class now?
- Where will inflation be at the end of the year?
- How are you generating income for clients?
- What's your view on alternative investments? Digital assets? Private Markets?
- How do you choose the right investment partners?
- How can you consistently deliver performance and differentiate your offering?
- How do you translate your view into actionable outcomes for each client based on their needs?
Chair
Speakers
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1.15pm
Lunch & Networking
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2.00pm
Forum Ends
INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM - Dubai 2023
Millennium Plaza Downtown Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza Dubai),United Arab Emirates


Marc-Andre Sola
1291 Group

Mario Timpanaro
AQUIS Capital

Mehrez Kheir
Abbey Road Investment

David Doerig
Corecam

Anita Krishna Gupta
Emirates NBD

Bryan Henning
Eton Solutions

Satyen Patel
Eton Solutions

Philip Rosenberg
GAM Investments

Jian Shi Cortesi
GAM Investments

Dean Kemble
GSB Capital

Tim Searle
Globaleye

Mohamed Seghir
HAYAH Insurance

David Howard
HAYAH Insurance

Salman Haider
Habib Bank AG Zurich

Philippe Amarante
Henley & Partners

Sunita Singh-Dalal
Hourani & Partners

Fredrik Daveus
Kidbrooke

Radek Jezbera
Kilde

Fadi Barakat
REYL Intesa Sanpaolo

Nicholas Wright
Saxo

Damian Hitchen
Saxo

Daniel Williams
Sigma Private Office

Joseph El Am
StashAway

Mithun Ghosh
Taurus Wealth Advisors

Gary Dugan
The Global CIO Office

Anmol Budhraja
Three Comma Capital Advisors

Alastair Glover
Trowers & Hamlins
INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM - Dubai 2023
Millennium Plaza Downtown Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza Dubai),United Arab Emirates

platinum
gold
silver
INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM - Dubai 2023
Millennium Plaza Downtown Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza Dubai),United Arab Emirates

Setting the Scene for the 2023 Independent Wealth Forum – Dubai
The independent wealth management (IWM) segment has grown apace in the past 15 or so years in Asia, but it remains far less established than, for example, in Europe or the US, with an estimated 30% of assets managed by boutique firms in Switzerland against estimates of 5% to perhaps (very optimistically) 10% in Asia. In the UAE and more broadly in the Middle East, the independent wealth management model and the overall offering are at an earlier phase of development, but the momentum is very clearly building, and the regulators, authorities and private sector participants are all very evidently eager to propel the proposition forward.
The wealth market in the UAE is expanding and diversifying rapidly, as private wealth sourced in the region increases apace, and as the UAE attracts more private clients to visit and rising numbers of HNW and also UHNW clients to move themselves and often their families to the region, including to establish single- and multifamily offices in their chosen jurisdiction.
This all serves as a magnet for more and also perhaps higher-quality participants from the international independent wealth management (IWM) community - from Europe, Singapore, and Hong Kong primarily – to consider establishing operations in the region, perhaps out of Dubai’s DIFC or Abu Dhabi’s ADGM.
In short, the IWM sector has much more potential, and there is plenty of room for growth from existing players and from the growing ranks of new entrants.
But what are the strategies, products, investment, technologies, talent, and approaches required to seize the many opportunities ahead? The answer to these questions centre on the growth potential for the independent wealth sector, which are clear for all to see, but with more challenging global investment conditions and difficult geopolitics, strategies must be honed and adapted to ensure the great growth potential ahead is indeed grasped.
The INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM 2023 – Dubai will mine down into the shafts of the UAE’s wealth management market to discover exactly where the growth will come from, and therefore what strategies the incumbent independents and the new entrants will need to adopt to seize those opportunities.
The market is surely there, but the independents need to keep their eyes set firmly on the targets and chart a course for their businesses, their people and their clients that will eventually see the independent wealth sector emulate the great success of their peers in more mature markets such as in Asia, or indeed in that bastion of IWM success, Switzerland.
In addition to 5 Presentations, we will host four timely and interesting panel discussions, as follows:
Panel One
Independent Wealth Mangers – Defining and Refining the Proposition in the UAE
- How is the independent wealth management market developing in the UAE?
- Does it make sense to set up an office here – perhaps in addition to Singapore, Hong Kong or Switzerland?
- How did the market evolve and develop in Singapore? What is the role of the Association of Independent Wealth Managers (AIWM)? Why don’t we have an association in the UAE?
- Who are the target clients, and what specific requirements do they have?
- What are the regulators and authorities doing to encourage the growth of the independent wealth management community in the UAE?
- How do traditional wealth managers view this development? Will they collaborate or compete?
- What is the UAE doing to increase the quality of local private banking platforms? Are we likely to see more custody here in the future?
- Will foreign private banks do more here? Are EAMs forming a larger part of the business for private banks?
- What services can independent wealth managers offer clients in UAE which are unique?
- Should there be higher hurdles to setting up an EAM/MFO?
Panel Two
Independent Wealth Managers – Getting it right and Growing the Business
- Why set up an EAM/MFO?
- What is the nature of a sustainable platform? And the challenges of creating a successful and profitable business?
- What are the business models that are relevant to this segment?
- How can you build and retain the right talent to compete effectively?
- How are the specific requirements of clients changing? Why do they use an EAM / MFO?
- How can you find the right type of RMs to join the team? Why should they join and EAM?
- Who do you partner with for success? Platforms / Investments / Tech / Professional Services
- MFO vs SFO - How does a client choose?
- Execution and Custody - What are the choices?
Panel Three
Curating and Delivering Independent Advice
- What must you offer to deliver a genuinely client-first advisory offering?
- Is the client happy to pay a fee for advice, and what are the key trends emerging?
- How would you explain your value proposition? How can you differentiate yourself?
- Do you need an investment adviser or CIO to run a meaningful and effective boutique independent wealth management firm in the UAE?
- How do you manage risk, curate research and deliver the best asset allocation?
- What are the implications of regulatory initiatives in the UAE and more broadly in the region?
- Where do you get the best inputs when considering the advice that you give to clients?
- How do professional services firms help when curating ‘genuine’ independent advice to clients?
Panel Four
Curating winning client portfolios following a challenging year
- What are the opportunities and challenges for the year ahead?
- How are you managing risk in 2023? Is it time to take on more risk?
- What's your favourite asset class now?
- Where will inflation be at the end of the year?
- How are you generating income for clients?
- What's your view on alternative investments? Digital assets? Private Markets?
- How do you choose the right investment partners?
- How can you consistently deliver performance and differentiate your offering?
- How do you translate your view into actionable outcomes for each client based on their needs?
Join us on March 15 for what will be an insightful, informative, and thought-provoking event.
INDEPENDENT WEALTH MANAGEMENT FORUM - Dubai 2023
Millennium Plaza Downtown Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza Dubai),United Arab Emirates