Dubai powerhouse AIM Summit brings alternative investments, private debt to inaugural European conference in Geneva

In 2015 Dubai based Dalma Capital launched a conference series - the AIM Summit - which has since won a strong reputation as a high-quality event in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The AIM Summit was spun out from Dalma as an independent company with a dedicated team and is expanding this year internationally with their first Geneva conference on June 12 at the Hotel President Wilson. Established in 2011, Dalma Capital is a key player in the MENA region as a global alternative investment platform, fund manager and accelerator for alpha generation with an inherent edge in emerging investment strategies and markets.

"While there were quite a few conferences happening in the Middle East capturing various different sectors within the financial services industry, we found that nothing was focused predominantly on alternatives (Hedge Funds, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Private Debt), and so Dalma launched the first conference in Dubai, along with the support of AIMA Association, and then quickly expanded to Abu Dhabi. We are now in our fifth year organizing high-quality events - Abu Dhabi in the first quarter and Dubai in the last quarter of each year - and are excited to bring the AIM Summit to Geneva in June", said Raha Moradi, Managing Partner of AIM Summit.

"Looking at the delegates of past AIM Summits in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we noticed that a lot of our delegates and speakers come from various different markets internationally. In fact, 80 of our speakers in Dubai flew into town for the conference, predominantly from the European region. So, we said, 'Why don't we take AIM Summit to Europe?' And Geneva came to mind because family offices are one of our primary key target audiences along with private banks and private investors, on top of institutions and sovereign wealth funds."

Opportunities for Private Debt and other investment managers

Opalesque founder Matthias Knab has been asked to moderate a panel on private debt, if you are interested in joining this panel, please contact [email protected].

You can also contact [email protected] if you are interested in joining panels or presentations on:

• Reinventing Hedge Funds
• Litigation Fund
• Energy, Water & Agriculture
• Securitization & SPVs
• Emerging Markets & Frontier Countries
• Family Office Investments
• ESG Asset Allocations & Evolution of Impact Investing
• Philanthropy & Sustainability
• Changing Landscape for Endowments & Foundations
• Geopolitical Landscape & Trade Volatility in the Global Economy

Raha Moradi explains that the company has stringent selection criteria as to who is admitted to participate at an AIM Summit. "We typically attract about 150 LPs and GPs to our conferences. To be a bit more specific, at our Abu Dhabi conference we had 437 delegates that were approved to attend, but over one thousand had applied, so we have policies and processes in place in terms of who can and cannot attend."

Moradi points out that in contrast to a typical conference and event management firm, the AIM Summit hasn't been set up to generate and maximize profit, but as an educational platform designed to connect people. "The proceeds that are received through sponsorship largely go towards covering the overheads and expenses in putting together AIM Summit", she explains. There is also a minimal charge for service providers which in aggregate are capped at 7% AIM Summit's conference attendees.

Highlights of the Geneva AIM Summit

The upcoming AIM Summit is supported by eminent thought leaders and global players such as the World Economic Forum, Peter Rockefeller, Board Member & Vice Chairman of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisor, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

"The Geneva conference, in particular, is very interesting because we have added Impact Investment as a new asset class. We are working with the World Economic Forum in putting together high powered panel sessions on sustainability, philanthropy and investing in agriculture. So we managed to bring in quite a few key speakers like Peter Rockefeller or Prince Michael of Liechtenstein. We start at 9:00 am and will end the day with a cocktail reception. We will come with a large delegation from the Middle East and everyone is excited to be part of this first edition of the AIM Summit in Europe," Raha Moradi concluded.