Family Office Summit Dubai agenda

Summit Timings
Registration & Networking
Panel Discussion 1:
The Separation of Family Business & Family Wealth
Why governance works better when Sunday lunch doesn’t double as an investment committee.
A practical discussion on why separating operating businesses from family wealth has become a priority for modern families. The panel explores governance structures, holding companies, trusts, investment committees, and how families reduce emotional overlap while preserving alignment.
Panel Discussion 2:
A Structural Shift in How Family Offices Access Private Equity & Private Credit
From blind pools to selective exposure—and fewer surprises.
An examination of how family offices are changing the way they deploy capital into private markets. Topics include co-investments, secondaries, evergreen funds, club deals, direct lending, and why control, transparency, and liquidity options now matter more than ever.
Coffee & Carbs Break
Networking fuel, market gossip, and the awkward “So, what do you do”
Panel Discussion 3:
Venture Capital: Back on Top of the Family Office Menu for 2026
Risk is back—this time with better homework.
What’s driving renewed appetite for venture capital? A look at valuation resets, sector focus, manager selection, indexing and why many families are once again allocating to innovation—carefully, selectively, and with longer-term conviction, looking beyond traditional markets like US, Europe.
Panel Discussion 4:
Hong Kong & Asia: Why Ignoring the East Is No Longer an Option
A strategic look at Asia’s renewed role as a global gateway for capital, talent, and structure. The panel explores Hong Kong’s positioning, regional diversification, regulatory evolution, and how family offices are re‑engaging with Asia after a period of hesitation.
Fireside Chat 5:
iGaming & FinTech: High-Yield, High-Risk — How Family Offices Are Pricing Regulation, Tech & Scale
A candid discussion on why family offices are increasingly drawn to the convergence of iGaming and FinTech, and how they assess risk in sectors defined by rapid growth, heavy regulation, and technological leverage.
Panel Discussion 6:
The Human Sell‑By Date: Are We Being Replaced by AI & Tech?
An honest exploration of where humans still add value—and where machines are already doing it better. Covering AI in investment decision‑making, operations, due diligence, and whether judgment, intuition, and experience still earn their seat at the table.
Lunch Break
A chance to digest everything—financial strategies and discuss how good the butter chicken is!!
Panel Discussion 7:
Next Gen: Growing Wealth Differently (Yes, We’ve Read the Old Playbook)
A sharp, self-aware discussion on how the next generation approaches wealth—embracing technology, sustainability, venture, and global thinking, while still respecting the fundamentals that built the family balance sheet in the first place.
Panel Discussion 8:
Real Estate: Still the Heavyweight Champion of Middle East Family Portfolios — Fact or Fiction?
A debate on whether property continues to dominate family allocations, or whether diversification is finally gaining ground. Covering yield, risk concentration, global exposure, and the evolving role of real estate in multi‑asset portfolios.
Panel Discussion 9:
The Digital Assets Family Offices Cannot Ignore
A clear‑eyed discussion on cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets, custody, regulation, and infrastructure. Separating long‑term allocation candidates from speculative noise—and explaining what actually belongs in a diversified family portfolio.
Panel Discussion 10:
Art, Cars & Collectables
Buying what we love, convincing the investment committee later.
A candid look at passion assets—how families acquire, value, insure, govern, and eventually exit art, classic cars, watches, and collectables, while balancing enjoyment with disciplined stewardship.
Panel Discussion 11:
Building the 2026 Portfolio: Because ‘Just Hold Cash’ Isn’t a Strategy… Apparently
Public Equities, Fixed Income, Bonds, Listed Securities, Currencies & Hedge Funds
Markets in 2026 are shaped less by fundamentals alone and more by volatility, policy intervention, and the speed at which information — and misinformation — moves capital. This panel explores how money actually flows across public markets in an environment defined by central bank activism, geopolitical tension, macroeconomic resets, and sudden sentiment shifts (sometimes triggered by a single headline or tweet).
Roundtable Arena
Roundtable 1:
Public Markets Re-Engaged
How family offices are returning to equities, fixed income, hedge funds and credit, what’s driving conviction, where risk is being priced, and how portfolios are being positioned for 2026 and beyond.
Roundtable 2:
Passion Assets as Portfolio Strategy
Arts, cars and collectables through an investment lens—acquisition strategy, valuation, governance, risk management, and the professionalisation of “emotional” assets.
Roundtable 3:
Venture Capital in the Family Office Context
Direct vs fund exposure, sector focus, pacing, portfolio construction, and managing risk across early- and growth-stage investing.
Roundtable 4:
Real Estate Without Illusions
Yield, diversification, concentration risk, and where global real estate still works for Middle Eastern families.
Roundtable 5:
The Family Office Back Office Goes Intelligent
Where AI is genuinely adding value across investments, treasury, operations and governance and where it isn’t.
Roundtable 6:
Crypto Markets & Tokenised Assets
Navigating Crypto, investment frameworks for digital assets, tokenisation of real-world assets, custody and liquidity considerations, and common pitfalls in early deployment.
Roundtable 7:
US Private Equity Access
Accessing high quality, durable & difficult to source businesses in the industrial technology sector: in U.S. Lower Middle Market Private Equity
Roundtable 8:
China & Asia—Capital in a Changing Region
Opportunities, risks, regulation, geopolitics, and long-term allocation across Asia’s evolving markets.
Roundtable 9:
Private Credit: Navigating Opportunities in Today’s Market
Where yield looks attractive, risk hides in the details.
Roundtable 10:
Next Generation: Inheriting Capital, Redefining Responsibility
Stewardship over status and why the next generation is changing how wealth actually works.
Post-Summit Cocktail Evening
– DJ sets the soundtrack
– Drinks begin flowing
– Finger‑food buffet opens
A relaxed close to the day—to the people we met, the ideas we shared, and the spreadsheets we’ll undoubtedly question tomorrow. Until next time.