Record Breaking Number of High Profile Attendees Convene at Ritossa’s 8th Global Family Office Investment Summit in Dubai

SmartCargo and The Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, UAE Sign Major Partnership Agreement

DUBAI, UAE – (March 12, 2019) – The 8th Global Family Office Investment Summit hosted by Anthony Ritossa wrapped up in Dubai with leading families from around the world representing $4 trillion+ in investor wealth gathering to discuss Investing in a New Age. Once again, the exclusive event exceeded expectations as most influential global family office gathering of all time and resulted in a record-breaking number of important global business deals funded that are guaranteed to improve the world economy.  

In keeping with the Ritossa tradition, more than 450 elite family offices, prominent conglomerate business owners, sheikhs, royal families, private investment companies, international business moguls, sovereign wealth funds, and industry professionals from across the Middle East and around the globe convened at the Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Beach under the High Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum.The 100+ speakers included influential UAE leaders, European royalty, award-winning global fund managers, cryptocurrency and blockchain experts, inspirational world peace leaders and many of the world’s most important families who closed the event with a standing ovation.

“The Summit succeeded in furthering cooperation and collaboration between Middle East families and their counterparts in  Europe, the United States, Asia and Latin America by presenting an opportunity for like-minded families to meet in a private, invitation-only, confidential and closed-door environment,” said Anthony Ritossa, Chairman of Ritossa Family Office, a family business dating back 600 years to the Venetian Empire in Europe.

Following an initial meeting at the 6th Global Family Office Summit held in Dubai in March 2018, SmartCargo again met with The Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, UAE to sign a major partnership agreement, representing just one success story and example of the high level deals consummated at Ritossa Family Office Summits. 

"I congratulate Mr. Anthony Ritossa for once again showing what an upper scale, high calibre family office Summit should look like. The 8th Summit was an outstanding edition which, in my opinion, was a special one as it added to the portfolio multiple other HNWI, family offices and royal family members. I was particularly happy and honored to present our most recent venture in the blockchain space with SmartCargo during my very interesting panel, as an official partner to The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum. Today, SmartCargo is known as the new technology layer that challenges the logistics industry issues and promises improvements in efficiency and operating cost-reductions," said Faris M. Al Tahtamooni, Associate Director - International Ventures, Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.

In addition to collaborative global partnerships, events and topics that were top of mind included:

World Tour for Peace– Summit attendees from 35 countries celebrated moments of peace in honour of the World Tour for Peace that will visit 100 countries across all continents over two years under the ambassadorship of Anthony Ritossa and other esteemed world leaders.

Cautious Optimism Set the Tone– Summit guests tended to agree that the best path forward is cautious optimism in light of concerns over a possible global economic slowdown and the challenges that may lie ahead.

Invest in Alignment with Values– Next generation investors increasingly seek returns that align with doing good for the world and future opportunities. Therefore, impact investing, philanthropy, social responsibility and ESG metrics are key themes in high demand. What is done with ones’ resources has moral consequences and effective altruism is the best path forward. As an example, Justin Rockefeller outlined the example of Zero Mass Water which utilizes solar panels to create locally sourced water around the world.

Humanity-Driven Investment Decisions Rule- Big ideas reflective of what is needed for humanity represent prime investment opportunities – e.g. smart apps and Internet of Things (ioT) platforms.

Instill a Family Spirit of Dialogue- Future generations of families seek to shine on their own. Therefore, families need to communicate and have a vision to create something meaningful for the world. It is essential to know your family story, heritage and legacy and align it with a strong entrepreneurial vision that incorporates risk taking, creativity trust, chemistry and innovation.

Blockchain + Business – Blockchain is changing best practices for business around the world. The right regulation will supercharge the future and radical changes are in store for every aspect of banking.

Dubai is Well Positioned as a World Leader– Dubai is in a unique position to continue to take the lead on the world stage as a result of its unparalleled innovation, trade agreements and seismic shift in investor mentality. The region leads in areas such as technology, AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, healthcare, financial services, and sustainability.

Buckle Your Seat Belt– Substantial families must prepare for events such as birth, death and divorce in addition to preparing for turbulence in the financial markets and it is always important to consider short and long term family goals. Families should live for today, remember yesterday and think of tomorrow as they prepare future generations to take the lead.

"The Global Family Office Summit event in Dubai was a crowning achievement for Anthony Ritossa and everyone who participated. The summit is recognised as the largest and most exclusive worldwide family office gathering of all time and it is an honour to provide patronage to such an illustrious event. Similar to past Summits, many prominent families from around the world gathered for high-level discussions on how to enrich the family legacy, grow, preserve wealth, and share ideas. We look forward to future events,” said Mohamed Al Ali, CEO & Advisor, Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum International Investments Enterprise, UAE. 

“The summit is a good mix of families, of products and services. This sharing of current activities, and future trends is very important in such gatherings as a vehicle to move forward into 2019,” said H.R.H. Prince Michel de Yougoslavie, Grandson of King Umberto of Italy & Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, Monaco. 

"For the past couple of years, I have chaired, moderated and spoken at many Family Office’s and Investment Summits around the world, but this one has certainly raised the bar. It was an honour to chair and moderate Ritossa's Global Family Office Investment Summit,” said Hussein Sayed, CNBC Arabia Anchor, & Chief Market Strategist, ForexTime (FXTM), UAE. 

“This is the only global summit where affluence and influence combine synergistic forces to catapult groundbreaking platforms of commerce, wealth, and indescribable opportunities into disruptive global businesses of the future,” said Sheila Barry Driscoll, Billionaire Foundation, USA. 

"Your wonderful summit turned out to be the best conference I have been to. It’s only because of your splendid efforts and management, that made it so successful, highly stimulating and beneficial for all participants,” said Hadi Al Alawi, Chairman & CEO, Al Hayat Group, Kingdom of Bahrain. 

"What makes these events exceptional is that they are organised by a family office for like-minded family offices,” said Giuseppe Ambrosio, President, Monaco Single & Multi-Family Office International Association. 

"Ritossa summits are the best in a perfect setting – we achieved US$360 million of investments,” said Nick Ayton, Founder & CEO, Chainstarter & Family Office Crypto Advisor, UK.

For details on future events and the invitation-only 9th Global Family Office Investment Summit in Monaco June 18-20, 2019 to be held under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco please email [email protected] or visit www.MonacoSummit.org.

Media Contact: Charlotte Luer, +1-239-404-6785, [email protected]

Pictured (left to right): Joze Oberstar, Founder/Attorney at Law, Oberstar Law Office; David Grozina, Co-Founder, SmartCargo; Hisham Al Gurg, CEO, The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum & SEED Group; Gregor Humar, Founder/CEO, SmartCargo; Ahmed Ayman, Senior Manager - International Ventures, The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum; Faris M. Al Tahtamooni, Associate Director - International Ventures, The Private Office of Sheikh Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Maktoum.

As featured in The Economist.