The MEA Finance Wealth & Investment Summit 2025, held on the 6th of November 2025 at the Ritz Carlton JBR in Dubai, was attended by just over 500 of the region’s senior private bankers, wealth managers, investment advisors, relationship managers, senior leaders, family officers, investors and digital wealth technology providers.
This annual event, once again maintaining its place as the region’s leading wealth and investment event, informed leaders, market builders and the growing wave of wealth service providers setting up shop in the region of key developments in this fast-growing and important market. Highly topical discussions and presentations centred on key industry matters at this time of change and increasing competition, held by panels of senior leaders and practitioners working at the forefront of the market.
An impressive attendance of delegates, eager to learn about the latest developments in the regional wealth management sector, keenly tuned into the panel sessions and benefited from the unique insights and 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
The overall theme of the summit this year was The Future of Wealth Management in the Middle East.
The summit started with an opening address made by Farzad Billimoria, Managing Director and Head of Private Banking at Barclays Private Bank.
Then the discussions started with the first panel, “Planning for the Future – Successful Succession”, with Mehreen Nadir, Senior VP and Client Strategist at BNY Wealth as moderator. She was joined by fellow speakers Yasmine Omari, Head, Family Office and Wealth Advisory at Bank of Singapore, DIFC Branch; Vipul Kapur, Managing Director and Head of Private Banking at Mashreq; Leo Charitos, Senior Wealth Planner at LGT (Middle East); Nina Auchoybur, Country Head at Ocorian; Paul Bryson, Managing Director of Virtuzone; and Khalid Alkadi, Managing Director, Business Development, MENA Private Banking at HSBC.
Panel two, “Family of the Future – Key Concerns and Future Priorities for Regional Family Offices”, was moderated by Kimberley Wilks, Director – International Private Wealth and Family Office at PwC. Kimberley was joined in this discussion by Rishi Patel, Founder and CEO of Interpolitan Money; Patryk Karczewski, Partner and Head of Tax at Amereller Tax; Lata Swaminathan, Senior Director, Private Banking at Mashreq; Sudarshan Malpani, Chief Investment Officer for a private family office; and Ali Nanji, Regional Sales Director for the Middle East at Backbase.
After a coffee break, the audience was treated to a presentation on Sharia-Compliant Foundations, expertly and informatively delivered by Leevyn Isabel, the Commercial Director for the Middle East at Ocorian.
Panel three followed, “Present in the Future – The Technology of Wealth Management”, with Bryan Stirewalt, Executive Director at Grant Thornton. Joining Bryan were Anand Rai, Head of Business Consulting at additiv; Zubin Muriya, Executive Advisor at VelthRad; Maher Al Kaabi, Advisor to the Group Chairman and Independent Board Member at Alserkal Group of Companies, and UAE Circular Economy Council Member; Jonathan P. Noble, Partner at Amereller; Alexander Hewazy, Director and International Wealth Advisor at Barclays Private Bank; and Aladdin Hangari, Senior Executive Officer, Head of Global Private Bank UAE and MENA at HSBC.
Coming after panel three was a presentation by Sriranga Sampathkumar, Global Head of Sales for Infosys Finacle, Unlocking the Power of Private Banking, continuing the technology theme of the preceding debate.
Following lunch, panel four, “A Better Future – Philanthropy, Ethics and Yield“, was moderated by Neelam Verma, CEO and Co-Founder of Wealthlink Solutions. Alongside Neelam were Leo Charitos, Senior Wealth Planner at LGT (Middle East); Maher Al Kaabi, Advisor to the Group Chairman and Independent Board Member at Alserkal Group of Companies, and UAE Circular Economy Council Member; and Hussain Korji, a leading regional Chief Investment Officer.
Panel number five, “Investing in the Future – Which Asset Classes Will Stay, Which Are Coming”, was moderated by Christiane El Habre, Regional Managing Director for the Middle East at Apex Group. Christiane led the discussion accompanied by Hazem Ayoub, Head of Investments, Private Banking at Mashreq; Tommaso Leodari, Chief Investment Officer for Index & Cie; Dr. Dharmesh Bhatia, Director, Advisory and Product Solutions, Wealth Management at Emirates Investment Bank; and Wael Amhaz, Senior Investment Counsellor at Citi.
Panel six, “Generations of the Future”, the concluding panel of the summit, had Anita Gupta, Chief Investment Officer at Wealthbrix Capital Partners Limited. Anita debated alongside Farzad Billimoria, Managing Director and Head of Private Banking at Barclays Private Bank; Ala Aljayyusi, Managing Director at Commercial Bank International (CBIx); and Mohammed Wassim Khayata, Chief Executive Officer of Mbank.
The 2025 MEA Finance Wealth & Investment Summit was supported by the event’s exclusive Platinum Sponsor, Barclays Private Bank. The Gold Sponsors were additiv, Ocorian, HSBC and Mashreq Private Banking, with Silver Sponsors Standard Chartered Bank, Interpolitan Money, BNY Wealth, Backbase and Infosys. Amereller was the event’s Legal Partner, and Supporting Partners at the event were Just Wills, Virtuzone and Jebel Ali Racecourse. UBF was the Event Partner.
