JEDDAH, 26 February 2005 — The sixth annual Hedge Funds World Middle East Conference will take place in Dubai between Feb. 28 and March 2. As many as 500 of the world’s leading investment professionals are expected to attend the conference.
Recognized as the premier regional event with first class networking opportunities, the conference will bring together an impressive array of senior alternative investment professionals to discuss a range of issues pertaining to hedge fund industry and its evolution both globally and regionally.
Man Investments, a global leader in alternative investments, will be a major participant at the conference. The company will also be hosting a one-day pre-conference event on Monday.
More than 40 expert speakers, who will give presentations on a wide range of industry topics, include Pradeep Mehta, vice president, managed funds, Arab Banking Corporation (ABC), Bahrain; Mohammed Seif ELNasr, deputy treasurer of the Saudi National Commercial Bank (NCB), Dr. Marcel A. Giacometti, president & founder, Auda Advisor Associates LLC (New York; Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Al-Duweesh, fund manager, Treasury & International Securities National Investments Company (Kuwait) and Sheikh Mohamed Al-Khalifa, director of finance & investments, General Organization for Social Insurance (Bahrain), Antoine Massad, head of Middle East and Asia, Man Investments, Dubai and Christoph Moeller, head of global sales and marketing at Man Investments, (Switzerland), one of the world’s largest alternative investment companies with assets under management of $42 billion.
“Following the strong growth of the past 15 years, the industry is now at a point where it is moving steadily into the mainstream of investing, becoming a ‘must have’ element of any institutional or private client portfolio,” said Massad, chairman of Hedge Funds World Middle East 2005. “This conference, undoubtedly the most important event of its kind in the region, provides investors and product providers with a perfect forum in which to analyze and discuss these changes and develop informed opinions about the future development of the industry.”
Last year’s event attracted in excess of 450 delegates, and it is hoped that Hedge Funds World Middle East 2005 will draw even greater participation from global leaders in the financial services industry.
“The hedge fund industry has evolved rapidly over the past few years, as growing number of investors have come to recognize the long-term return potential of the asset class and now stands on the brink of becoming a mainstream investment,” Massad said
Man Investments (Man), the asset management arm of Man Group PLC, is an independent and global leader in alternative investments, providing innovative products and tailor-made solutions for private and institutional clients.