His Excellency Anas K. Al-Saleh, Minister of Finance

State of Kuwait to speak at the conference

Industry luminaries from across the MENA region to discuss finance and new investment opportunities

Middle East, 19 January 2015 -CFA Society Kuwait and CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, are to host the sixth Middle East Investment Conference on Tuesday 10th February for the first time in Kuwait.

Under the patronage of His Excellency Anas K. Al-Saleh, Minister of Finance, State of Kuwait, the Middle East Investment Conference will bring together international thought leaders, policymakers, industry experts, and key market participants from across the MENA region to consider the central theme of "Investing in New Realities."

This conference will attract CFA charterholders and senior investment professionals from across the GCC region, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, as well as some from the USA, Europe and Asia. .

The event has attracted national sponsorships from the National Bank of Kuwait. It will bring together speakers and experts from around the world to evaluate and discuss the topics of greatest interest to investment professionals.  Topics covered by world-class speakers throughout the day include:

  • Global economic outlook: Opportunities and challenges for MENA investors

  • Geopolitics and the rise of new super powers in the MENA region

  • A Changing Global Energy Landscape: Implications for MENA

  • The untapped growth dividend of demographics

  • Investment strategies for frontier markets

  • The magic of behavioral economics

  • Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Is MENA on the cusp of an VC boom?

Featured speakers include:

  • His Excellency Anas K. Al-Saleh, Minister of finance, State of Kuwait

  • Rafik Hafez, CFA, President of CFA Society Kuwait

  • Nouriel Roubini, Co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics

  • Henny Sender, Chief correspondent, international finance, at the Financial Times

  • Amlan Roy, Managing director and head of global demographics and pensions research at Credit Suisse Securities (Europe)

  • Tevfik Kınık, Executive vice chairman of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB)

  • Paul Craven, Director of Salomon Partners

  • Philippa Malmgren, President and founder of DRPM Group

  • Jim Walker, Founder and chief economist of Asianomics Group Limited

  • Paul Kenny, Founder and CEO of Safarna

Ahead of the conference, Mr. Nitin Mehta, Managing Director, CFA Institute Europe, Middle East, and Africa, commented:  "Our annual investment conference in the Middle East, in partnership with our local societies, brings together our global experts to a Middle Eastern audience, creating a platform for senior investment professionals to come together, learn and discuss some of the many issues and opportunities they face. This inaugural conference reflects the ambition of CFA Institute to provide life-long-learning opportunities for CFA charterholders and fellow investment professionals in the region, thereby supporting our mission to raise professional and ethical standards in the industry."

Commenting on the conference, Mr. Rafik Hafez, president of CFA Society Kuwait, said:  "With significant public debate as to how the markets will evolve during 2015, the CFA Institute conference is very timely and we are honored to host such a prestigious conference in Kuwait for the first time. Held under the patronage of His Excellency Anas K. Al-Saleh, minister of finance, State of Kuwait,  bringing the conference here will also highlight Kuwait's investment opportunities.  This is a terrific opportunity for anyone who is interested in the views of some of the world's leading investment and political minds in the market, and we are very much looking forward to the discussions that will inevitably emerge from it."

Ahead of the conference, CFA Institute will also publish the findings of its Middle East Market Sentiment Survey which gauges the thoughts and opinions of regionally-based investment professionals, highlighting a broad range of economic, investment and employment trends currently facing investment markets in the Middle East. 

For more information, visit: http://meic.cfainstitute.org/   

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Media contacts
For and on behalf of CFA Institute in the GCC and Middle East
Erica Pettit/Vadia Rai @ FTI Consulting
T: +971 (0)4 4372110
erica.pettit@fticonsulting.com / Vadia.rai@fticonsulting.com   

CFA Institute EMEA (London)
Nicole Haroutunian (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
T: + 44 (20) 75330 9550/ 9551
nicole.haroutunian@cfainstitute.org  

About CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organisation is a champion for ethical behaviour in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. The end goal: to create an environment where investors' interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. CFA Institute has more than 124,000 members in 145 countries and territories, including 116,000 charterholders, and 144 member societies. For more information, visit www.cfainstitute.org.

About CFA Society (Kuwait)
Established by CFA Institute in August 2008, CFA Kuwait is part of CFA Institute's international network of nearly 111,000 members based in 141 countries and territories.  It is the newest CFA society in the GCC, the 7th in the Middle East, and 136th globally.  It is an association of local investment professionals consisting of portfolio managers, investment advisors, educators and other financial professionals.  CFA Kuwait contributes to the development of the investment sector in Kuwait and undertakes the following activities:

  • Promotes ethical and professional standards within the investment industry

  • Encourages professional development through the CFA Program and continuing education

  • Facilitates the exchange of information and opinions among people within the local investment community and beyond

  • Works to further the public's understanding of the CFA designation and investment industry

  • Creates awareness of the CFA Program among students, employers and employees

  • Connects CFA Institute members in Kuwait to a global network of investment professionals

More information can be found at http://www.membersocieties.org/kuwait/default.aspx  

© Press Release 2015