Crypto-Economics, Volatility, and Valuations In Emerging Markets on the Agenda for AIM Summit 2018

DUBAI, UAE, November 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The largest conference for alternative investment in the Middle East and North Africa will host more than 500 investors overseeing in excess of US$10 trillion in assets 

The seventh edition of the Alternative Investment Management (AIM) Summit will be held in Dubai on the 26th and 27th of November. The focus of this year's event will be 'The Shifting Paradigm of Alternative Investments'.

Attendees, including prominent family offices, investment professionals, and business leaders from all across the globe will discuss the upsurge in volatility throughout 2018 and the investment outlook for 2019 and beyond. Topics on the agenda include crypto-economics, the future of venture capital, the rise of algorithmic trading at hedge funds, and the state of the distressed debt market.

The evolution of venture capital and private equity across the MENA region is high on the agenda at this year's summit. After MENA startups raised $560 million in 260 deals last year, investors are bracing for bigger startup deals in the region throughout 2018 and 2019. "Shareholder protection is arguably the last major challenge to receiving VC funding," says Sabah al-Binali, CEO of Universal Strategy. "Developing the right development plans is arguably the last major challenge to deal sourcing." Sabah al-Binali will deliver a keynote speech on these essential topics.

"The AIM Summit will provide a stage for high profile debate. Key business leaders from across the Middle East and around the globe will attempt to make sense of what is an increasingly challenging global investment landscape," says Raha Moradi, AIM Summit Conference Director. "We are looking forward to what we expect to be one of the most interesting and well-attended AIM conferences in our history."

A number of speakers at the summit will address the emerging asset class of cryptocurrencies and blockchain tokens. While the outlook for VC deals in 2019 remains as bright as ever, investors are keen to understand how initial coin offerings (ICOs) could disrupt or augment the industry. Several speakers at the summit will compare the VC landscape with the emerging ICO/STO scene, attempt to classify some digital assets as a new asset class, highlight how Distributed Ledger Technology enhances existing asset classes, and delve into cryptocurrency price dynamics.

Navin Gupta, Ripple's Managing Director for Asia and the Middle East, will represent the company behind the world's third largest cryptocurrency XRP. Gupta's keynote will delve into deeper economic theory on tokenization, distributed ledgers (DLT), and the viability of digital currencies issued by central banks. "Distributed ledger technology is changing the ways that financial institutions and governments around the world look at moving money across borders," says Gupta. "Remittances in particular are a game-changing use case, as DLT can reduce much of the friction and cost of sending money internationally."

Another speaker addressing the same topic is the founder of DIFC-based hedge fund Dalma Capital Management, Zachary Cefaratti. "Crypto assets have become increasingly attractive to institutional investors in the past year," he says. "Security tokens are on the rise, with the opportunity of traditional investment classes and private placements to enjoy the benefits of tokenization, including increased transparency and liquidity. At the same time, non-security crypto-asset markets such as cryptocurrencies, stable-coins, utility tokens, platform/protocol tokens and infrastructure tokens have matured substantially, addressing issues of scalability and weeding out problematic vapor-ware offerings as investors have become more sophisticated."

Hosted at the Ritz Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the summit will feature 75 noteworthy speakers, including Christof H. Rühl, Head of Global Research at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Dr. Fahad M. Alturki, Chief Economist & Head of Research at Jadwa Investments; Henry Sender, Chief Correspondent at the Financial Times; Sabah al-Binali, CEO of Universal Strategy and Vice Chairman of the Board at The National Investor; and Fiona Treble, Director and Head of Membership at AIMA.

About the AIM Summit 

Annual AIM Summits are exclusively for business leaders and key decision makers at leading firms. It is the largest conference for alternative investment in the Middle East and North Africa. Each year it welcomes more than 500 investors and investment managers overseeing in excess of US$10 trillion in assets. Participants include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, hedge funds, private equity managers, private debt managers, venture capitalists, endowments, foundations, pension funds, digital asset and blockchain innovators, investors and disruptors. This year's event in Dubai will feature over 75+ eminent speakers and investors from across 50 countries.

To attend the event kindly visit www.aimsummit.com.

Media Contact
Raha Moradi,
Conference Director, United Arab Emirates,
[email protected]

SOURCE AIM Summit