Edward Bell is the Acting Chief Economist and Group Head of Research at Emirates NBD, leading a team of economists and analysts delivering market intelligence and macroeconomic insights for the MENAT region. His expertise spans economic analysis, policy research, and financial markets, providing strategic guidance on key trends and risks shaping global and regional economies. Emirates NBD’s Research team is a vital resource for wholesale banking clients, offering data-driven insights tailored to their industries and future plans. By equipping businesses with macroeconomic research and market intelligence, the team helps clients navigate uncertainty, identify opportunities, and make informed financial decisions. Their insights also support Emirates NBD’s coverage teams, strengthening advisory capabilities with in-depth analysis across sectors. Previously, Edward served as Head of Market Economics at Emirates NBD, specializing in commodities, currencies, and interest rates. He has a background as a commodities analyst and Middle East-focused economist, with degrees from the University of London and the University of Toronto. Based in Dubai, he is a regular commentator on economic trends in global media and industry events.
Kanishk Bishnoi joined Imani Wealth Management in 2024 as Director – Head Investment Advisor & Head of Thematic Investments.
Previously, he has led multi-asset fund coverage as Vice President at Credit Suisse from 2017-2019 with a focus on Thematic Equity and Super trends and launched futuristic technology and Asia coverage at Emirates NBD CIO’s office from 2015-2017.
As an Associate at DBS Bank Singapore, Kanishk led multi-asset funds and Asian stock coverage for advisory portfolios in NRI Client Portfolios from 2006-2009 and as MIS Analyst at Citigroup Singapore from 2004-2005 he led analytical inputs to senior management on a multi-billion-dollar credit portfolio across thirteen countries.
He holds a Masters in International Business from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Medford (2011-2013), USA, a Masters in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC (2022-2023) and a CFA Charter since 2019. His undergraduate degree was from the National University of Singapore on a full scholarship (1999-2003) where he represented the country at National Level in Cricket and received the varsity colours for excellence in sportsmanship.
MBA
Simon Bedard, Vice President, Institutional Sales & Service has overall responsibility for Mackenzie’s institutional business within Europe and the Middle East including developing business opportunities and partnerships with asset owners within the EMEA region. Simon helps institutional clients leverage the full breadth and depth of Mackenzie Investment’s diverse investment capabilities and solutions. The targeted clients include DB and DC pension plans, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, endowments & foundations and family offices. He also has expertise on topics related to ESG integration and active ownership and is a key member of the Mackenzie Responsible Investment Committee.
His industry experience started in 1992, when he joined the Power Financial Group of Companies, and later Mackenzie’s sales and marketing division in 2001. His career has progressed through more senior roles across the various companies within the Power Financial group and at one time was managing the distribution relationships between Mackenzie, Investors Group and the Great West Life group of companies.
Simon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and an MBA (Finance) from the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business. He has also served as Chair of Finance and Vice Chairman for the Misericordia Health Centre Foundation in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Victoria Barbary is a senior advisor at the Milken Institute having spent nine years as director of strategy and communications at the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF). Prior to joining IFSWF in September 2016, Victoria spent almost a decade working with sovereign wealth funds and other asset owners as a consultant, entrepreneur, journalist and thought leadership professional.
Victoria holds a PhD in history from the University of Cambridge, a master’s with distinction and BA (Hons) in history from the University of Durham. She was previously a senior researcher at the Sovereign Investment Lab, based at the Paolo Baffi Centre on Central Banking and Financial Regulation at Bocconi University in Milan.
MBA, CFA
Arup has been a professional quantitative investor for more than three decades, managing portfolios across virtually every capitalization and region of the world.
Between 1992 and 2012 he was a Quantitative Analyst, Portfolio Manager, Director of US and Director of Portfolio Management with Man Numeric. In 2012, he founded Agriya Investors, which later became the global/international arm of AJO. He joined Mackenzie in September 2017 to head the Global Quantitative Equity Team.
Arup has a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, and earned an MBA with distinction from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. He is a CFA charterholder.
Biswajit has 25+ years of regional and international experience in financial markets in areas of foreign exchange, money markets, fixed income, and equities. Before joining Asas, he was the CIO at Emirates Investment Bank overseeing the bank’s proprietary investments. He also acted as ED – Treasury at Invest AD where he led its treasury and capital markets activities.
He also held a number of senior positions in Treasury departments at various financial institutions in the region, including Al Khalij Commercial Bank in Doha, Qatar, where he set up its Treasury and Debt Capital Markets business and laid the foundations for the Islamic banking business. Biswajit is a Chartered Accountant from ICAI and an alumni of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University.
CFA
Jim Hwang is a Co-Founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Firinne Capital, a digital assets investment management company. He also independently consults on various topics including digital asset investing, multi-asset factor modeling, total portfolio allocations, equity factor investing, and organizational design. He previously worked at CPP Investments (CPPIB) as a Managing Director in Capital Markets & Factor Investing, responsible for public markets strategy allocation, and in Total Portfolio Management, heading portfolio design research. Prior to CPPIB, Jim had worked globally, managing portfolio management and research teams at major global institutions including Bosera Asset Management in HK and China, and Barclays Global Investors and UBS Brinson in the US.
Jim holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Berkeley and a BS in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering from MIT. He is also a CFA charter holder.
CFA, CAIA, FSA, FCIA, CERA, FRM
Ju Hui Lee is Head of Market Risk of UNJSPF (United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund), responsible for market risk oversight and asset-lability management. The fund manages assets of US$91.5 billion as of 31 December 2021.
Before joining UNJSPF, Ju Hui worked on the asset-liability analysis of the Canada Pension Plan and the factor studies at Canada Pension Investments (CPP Investments). In addition, she led modelling groups in the Global Risk Management at Scotiabank and ALM consulting, pension investment strategy development and risk management activities for financial institutions, model vetting, and actuarial valuation reporting for clients at KPMG and Mercer and developed the LDI methodology and was responsible for the strategic asset allocation at Manulife Financial.
Ju Hui holds a BSc. Mathematics, an MBA from the Yonsei University in Korea, and an MSc in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago. Ju Hui holds the CFA, CAIA, FSA, FCIA, CERA, and FRM designations.
Lia Lungu is the Founder of The Advisory Partnership (TAP), the governance and capital strategy house shaping how organisations, governments and digital economies are built, defended and scaled. A governance futurist and globally recognised chief strategist, she develops next-generation governance and capital systems, advising family offices, funds, corporates, governments and multilateral institutions on governance, capital strategy and tokenisation, architecting institutional blueprints, decision frameworks and digital-asset structures that convert trust, discipline and continuity into measurable economic advantage in AI-driven markets.
Lia is also the creator of a proprietary framework that transforms governance from a qualitative safeguard into a quantifiable source of return, enabling governance quality to be measured, benchmarked and priced as a distinct form of alpha across private, public and digital markets.
She serves as a Global Chair of the Global Risk Forum, part of GCRI, which holds consultative status at the UN, World Bank and IMF where she is the MENA Delegate on Governance and Capital Resilience. A visible champion for women’s leadership and representation, she stands at the forefront of governance, capital, strategy and intelligence.
Matt is a Fellow of Georgetown Law’s Denny Center for Democratic Capitalism, a Senior Research Fellow of the Behavioral Insights Team, and founder of Leatherman Strategic Advisory. Matt helps in each capacity to manage money for the good of people and the public, including at the high level of geopolitics and political economy through the Denny Center, at the intermediate level of investment governance and strategy through his advisory practice, and at the ground level of real-world implementation through services he is developing specifically for institutional investors with the Behavioral Insights Team. Matt recently helped to establish a financial research organization called Focusing Capital on the Long Term, including joining as its first full-time researcher and originating the entire suite of tools for institutional investors as well as many for corporations. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Washington State Investment Board, and others have publicly documented the impact of Matt’s leadership on their capital allocation practices. Prior to joining FCLT, Matt served as policy director to North Carolina Treasurer Janet Cowell. Matt advised Treasurer Cowell on her policy initiatives and on engagements with state and federal legislatures, regulators, and stakeholders; served as staff director of the corporate governance committee; directed implementation across a 400-person organization; and personally managed especially significant initiatives across the Department’s remit of investing, pension and health benefit administration, and state banking. Matt is chair emeritus of the John Rex Endowment and a director of the Foundation for Health Leadership and Innovation and the Raleigh Area Land Trust. Matt also advises the Catawba Center for the Environment, one of the largest-endowed university programs focused on the environment, and Reward Value, a Netherlands-based research center experimenting with ways that pay affects CEO behavior. Matt is active in public policy having campaigned to be North Carolina’s Treasurer in 2020.
Mitch is the Director of Strategy for a boutique SFO – Wide Plains Holding (WPH). In addition to overseeing growth and structural implementation according to the family’s needs, he also is responsible for managing the Private Markets Team. As of now, WPH is currently investing mostly in Real Estate and Private Credit across several key jurisdictions (UAE, Russia, CIS, Western Europe, and Latin America).
Prior to leading WPH, Mitch managed Credit and Real Estate for a Dutch Family Office, Construction and Real Estate for several other groups, and began his career solving complex Procurement and Vendor Management problems for a Family-owned multinational food products distributor. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Supply Chain, an M.A. in International Relations and Economics, and was a former 2-sport professional athlete.
His passion within Finance is structuring of credit products and optimizing credit portfolios while also managing relationships within Family Owned Entities. He excels at mapping uncertainty, measurable and subjective, into coherent models allowing for the proper understanding of exposure for accurate and defensible pricing.
CFA & Esq.
Winston Ma, CFA & Esq., is an investor, attorney, author, and adjunct professor in the global AI-digital economy. He is a partner of Dragon Global, an AI-focused family office (CIO – Chief Investment Officer of the StorageBlue Capital Management), and he is also the Executive Director of Global Public Investment Funds Forum and an Adjunct Professor (on Sovereign Investors) at New York University (NYU) School of Law.
Most recently for 10 years, he was Managing Director and Head of North America Office for China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund. Prior to that, Mr. Ma served as the deputy head of equity capital markets at Barclays Capital, a vice president at J.P. Morgan investment banking, and a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. He is one of a small number of native Chinese who have worked as investment professionals and practicing capital markets attorneys in both the United States and China.
Formerly a nationally certified Software Programmer, Mr. Ma is the author of more than 10 books on SWF funds, digital economy, and global geopolitics, including The Hunt for Unicorns: How Sovereign Funds are Reshaping Investment in the Digital Economy and most recently “Blockchain and Web3” (among 2024 “six must-read blockchain books” by TechTarget). He has been frequently interviewed by CNBC and Bloomberg TV and quoted by major financial media including WSJ, Reuters, and Financial Times. He was selected a 2013 Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum (WEF), and in 2014 he received the NYU Distinguished Alumni Award.
Edmondo Orlotti is Chief Strategy Officer at Core42, part of G42, an AI company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE. His previous assignments were in AI & HPC at global level with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and with NVIDIA Professional Systems Group. He has been addressing advanced simulation and analytics needs of industrial and academic environments from the very beginning of the deep learning age, from data center to edge. With over 25 years of experience in the IT sector at global level and an interdisciplinary background, covering marketing and sales roles, he has always been focusing on IT innovation. In the automotive industry, working with Formula 1 teams up to large automotive OEMS, he’s been addressing their HPC & AI challenges from the manufacturing floor up to autonomous driving.
Robert is currently the head of multi-asset of Oman Investment Authority. He has been with his current organization since 2017. He previously worked as PM managing absolute return portfolio for UBS and Credit Suisse after completing his postgraduate study in quantitative finance in Switzerland. Prior to rejoining financial services industry, he was the CEO/co-founder of a fintech company after obtaining his Master degree from London Business School
Rajagopal Ramamoorthy is a seasoned finance professional with over 34 years of experience in investment management. Since December 2008, he has served as the Acting Director of the Investment Funds Department and Advisor to the President at the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) in Dubai. He has managed the financial investments of AAAID, developing the Investment Policy and Risk Framework, as well as overseeing strategic and tactical asset allocation, portfolio manager selection, and serving as a member of the Financial Investment Committee.
Rajagopal has also been an Adjunct Lecturer for Finance at several universities, including LSE (RAK, UAE) and Manipal University, Wollongong University in Dubai, sharing his expertise in investment strategies and risk management.
He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Data Science for Business Analytics from Texas McCombs School of Business and a Diploma in Applied Financial Risk Analytics from IIM Kashipur. Rajagopal also earned a Doctorate in Finance from SMC University with a GPA of 3.8. His extensive experience and educational background underscore his commitment to innovation and excellence in the finance sector.
Over 17 years of experience in finance and investment across the energy and industrial sectors—spanning renewable energy, conventional power, and oil & gas. Abdullah is a distinguished leader in navigating policy-making and geopolitical risks within sovereign-linked environments, where he has played a key role in driving high-impact strategic initiatives. He has a proven track record of raising capital and scaling businesses in the region, having led multi-billion-dollar funding programs and optimized complex debt strategies. By engaging extensively with sovereign wealth funds, private investors, and venture networks, he brings deep expertise in capital structuring, governance, and driving risk-adjusted returns in high-growth markets.
Peter has a longstanding, international track record in strategy, digital & AI transformation and new business, with a focus on Financial Services. In recent years he has defined and led a full-scale, multi-disciplinary digital transformation at APG Asset Management as well as over 70 innovation initiatives, including scaling (Gen)AI.
As side activities, he is a member of the Supervisory Board of Univé South NL, a member of the Board of Holland Fintech Association, a Supervisory Board Member of The European Digital Financial Association and a (guest) lecturer at a.o. Nyenrode Business University and TIAS.
He holds a university degree in Business Administration.
Matt is the Co-Founder and Head of Institutional for Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol (SBP). SBP marks a breakthrough in the clean energy asset space. By connecting Bitcoin’s network properties with verified clean energy compute, the SBP token is the very first digitally native, programmably scarce, fully fungible climate asset that connects the world of sustainability with long term investment capital.
Matt brings nearly two decades of global markets experience to the digital asset space. He previously held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank across London, Hong Kong, and Sydney, specializing in Prime Brokerage and Institutional Sales for global hedge funds and asset managers. Before co-founding SBP, he led Prime Sales at OSL, the first SFC licenced exchange, where he sat at the forefront of institutional Bitcoin adoption.