Carlton JBR in Dubai. Through the day, the summit was attended by over 500 of the region’s leading private bankers, wealth managers, investment advisors, relationship managers, business leaders, family officers, asset managers and digital wealth technology providers.
This annual event, holding it place as the region’s leading single day Wealth and Investment event, provides a forum for leaders across the broad spectrum of specialist financial services for HNWIs to keep pace with developments across our region. The event, already well known for informative debate and insight from the leading edge of the Middle East’s ever growing wealth management sector, carried additional significance this year, reflecting, as it did, upon how regional HNW services managed, and indeed built growth during a year of challenges and uncertainty.
Another impressive attendance of delegates, eager to learn about the latest developments in the regional wealth management sector, keenly tuned into the panel sessions to benefit from the unique insights and the solid networking opportunities this event makes available to them.
Forty industry leaders led the discussions focusing on issues around trans-generational wealth transfer, family office, investment strategies, emerging asset classes and the cutting-edge innovations that will shape the region’s investment landscape.
Event Discussion Agenda
Then the discussions started with the first panel, “The inheritance of Succession and Estate Planning”, was moderated by Tim Searle, A leading regional HNW Advisor. He was joined by fellow speakers Jeremy Young, Chief Distribution Officer, International Brokerage, Global High Net Worth at Manulife; Nina Auchoybur, Country Head at Ocorian; Ahmad Chahidi, Managing Director at Union Bancaire Privée; Dr. Tarek Hajjiri, CEO & Wealth Advisor, Dots & Co and Paul Bryson, Managing Director of Virtuzone.
Panel two, “Family Fortitude – How Regional Family Offices thrive in the Middle East”, was moderated by Christiane El Habre, Global Head of Family Offices and Regional Managing Director, Middle East, Apex Group and joined in this discussion by Faisal Hasan, Chief Investment Officer & Head of Asset Management at Al Mal Capital; Leo Charitos, Senior Wealth Planner at LGT Middle East; Samir Atitallah, Chief Executive Officer of Arab Bank Switzerland Middle East and Biju Thomas, Senior Director at Mashreq Private Banking.
Following a coffee break, the audience was treated to a presentation on the recently introduced DIFC Variable Capital Company, expertly and informatively delivered by Leevyn Isabel, the Commercial Director for the Middle East at Ocorian.
Panel three followed, “ Living Beyond Your Means – Longevity Planning “ with Jeremy Young, Chief Distribution Officer, International Brokerage, Global High Net Worth at Manulife as the moderator accompanied in debate by Zubin Muriya, Executive Advisor at VelthRad; Bryan Stirewalt, Chairmen, Julious Baer Middle East; Anita Gupta, Chief Investment Officer at Wealthbrix Capital Partners Limited; and Tomasz Bortnik, Head of Wealth Management Product at Citi.
Coming after panel three was a standalone session presented by, Avaloq, titled Wealth Insights which provided an topical overview of the vital and specialised role of technology in wealth markets, presented by Abhijeet Singh Hazare, Avaloq’s Regional Sales Director for the Middle east, Africa and India.
Following lunch Panel four, ” The AI Inheritance – The wills and will nots of AI and Technology in HNWI Financial Services “ was moderated by Ilham Tamimi , Advisory Board Member and Co-Chair Legal and Compliance Committee of the Middle East Stablecoin Association – MESA. She was joined in this discussion by Ala Aljayyusi, Managing Director at CBIx; Yasmine Omari, Head, Family Office and Wealth Advisory at Bank of Singapore, DIFC Branch; Sudarshan Malpani, Chief Investment Officer for Acuity Wealth; Abhijeet Singh Hazare, Regional Sales Director – Middle East, Africa and India for Avaloq and Nour Alhriri, Strategic Account Manager for TrendAI.
Panel five – “Adapting to Circumstances – Flexibility for a Fickle World” had Ismael Hajjar, Partner at PwC as the moderator, joined by Filippo Rocchi, Head of Investment Advisory, Middle East at Deutsche Bank; Navin Chokhani, Senior Vice President, Head of Client Value Management for Mashreq Private Bank; Neelam Verma, CEO and Founder of Wealthlink Solutions, Rihab Saad, Managing Director at Next Generation Equity, Caroline Abou Rayan, Head of Premium Wealth, UAE Wealth Sales for HSBC and Basit Saiyed, Head of Wealth Management at ADIB.
Panel six, “ Digital Assets in Regional Wealth “, the concluding panel of the summit had Glen Fernandes, Senior Executive Officer, BNY, DIFC Branch as its moderator, with Dolly Ramaiya, Founder and Senior Executive Officer of Truleum Venture Partners; Vickram Lal, Senior Vice President, Head of Digital Wealth Solutions at Mashreq Private Bank; Milan Vojicic, Vice President at Apex Group and Ilham Tamimi , Advisory Board Member and Co-Chair Legal and Compliance Committee of the Middle East Stablecoin Association – MESA.
The 2026 MEA Finance Wealth & Investment Summit was supported by Gold Sponsors Avaloq, Manulife, Mashreq Private Bank, Ocorian and Standard Chartered Bank with Silver Sponsor, Apex Group, TrendAI as Cyber Security Partner, Dubai Digital Assets Association as Association Partner and Virtuzone as Supporting Partner.
