By Peter M.J. Gross
International thought leaders, policymakers, industry experts, and key market participants will convene in Cairo, Egypt on 17 April for the 2018 Middle East Investment Conference. The event will discuss trends shaping the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as its role in the global economy.
This conference builds on the success of the 2017 event, which took place in Abu Dhabi. H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court was its patron. Previous years’ patrons have included the Central Bank of Bahrain; His Excellency Anas K. Al-Saleh, Minister of Finance, State of Kuwait; and His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan.
In previous years, the event has offered several insights for serious investment professionals:
- Fereidun Fesharaki, former president of the International Association for Energy Economics, identified declining oil prices as a structural change in global energy markets.
- Russell Read, CFA, the chief investment officer and deputy chief executive of the Gulf Investment Corporation, discussed the Alpha and Beta of commodities investing.
- Economist and author Dambisa Moyo explained how demographic shifts and technological advancements will influence the global economy for generations.
- Adrian R. Bell, head of the ICMA Centre at the University of Reading’s Henley Business School, discussed the level of speculation in financial markets, which he considered to be unique in human history.
- Paul Craven, a behavioral finance coach, shared practical measures that investment professionals can take to address their behavioral biases.
- Willis Sparks, director of global macro at Eurasia Group, declared that the winning MENA economies would be the ones that address uncertainty by successfully diversifying.
Hosted by CFA Society Egypt, the 2017 Middle East Investment Conference will continue in this tradition, offering a unique opportunity for delegates to gain firsthand insights from leading experts and network with like-minded peers.
All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.