The Family Office hosts fifth Global Asset Allocation conference

While the previous year's event focused on longer term challenges and outlined some key themes of our World in 2020. the renowned speakers of this year will be presenting their views on the current crisis, outlining causes, sharing personal experiences, contrarian views and potential opportunities.

Addressing major merchant families from the Gulf region and prominent wealthy individuals who meet on an annual basis at this event, Mr Al Omran will briefly expose how his firm, strong of 42 people, has been navigating through these turbulent times.

"It is the correct time to address key concerns for investors and wealthy families in the region, for this year's conference we have invited prominent speakers to share their views on key themes that are re-shaping the world's economy,"

says Al Omran.

Mr Clark Winter, Founder of Winter Capital International, an independent advisory firm that structure multi-manager portfolios by harnessing the talents of independent investment managers working worldwide, will be sharing his views on what has changed for investors exposing their wealth globally; in light of the fundamentals that have changed the perception one should have on the markets needs to be re-addressed, according to this successful investor.

Mr Frank Tang is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of FountainVest Partners in Hong Kong, a private equity fund dedicated to China and managed by skillful Chinese professionals. He will give us his insight views on China, which matters today more than ever. The audience will be very pleased and excited to learn real stories from this reputable deal maker who has been on the ground exploring opportunities in this economy that will represent over 60% of the world's growth in 2009.

We will be discussing local issues with Ms Farah Foustok, the Chief Investment Officer of ING Investment Management, Dubai. She has over fourteen years experience analyzing and valuing companies in the UK, Europe and most recently in the region. She will be sharing her observation of the de-linking of the MENA region from commodities. Exploring strong trends in our region is of the greatest interest of The Family Office's client base whose businesses are challenged by the new shape of the regional economies.

Mr Jeffrey Currie, Global Head of Commodities Research at Goldman Sachs International and is responsible for conducting research on commodity market dynamics in the context of corporate risk management program, short and long-term commodity investment strategies and asset allocation. Mr Currie will bring another dimension to this topic by focusing on the primary natural resource of this region, oil; and what role it will or could play in a sustainable growth environment. With oil trading around $50 per barrel from $142 earlier this year, what has changed for our economies and the prospects for fast and sustainable increase of government, institutional and personal wealth?.

Dr Marc Faber, Editor and Publisher of the widely read monthly investment newsletter 'The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report' which highlights unusual investment opportunities, and is the author of several books including 'TOMORROW'S GOLD - Asia's Age of Discovery' which was first published in 2002 and highlights future investment opportunities around the world.

'TOMORROW'S GOLD' was for several weeks on Amazon's best seller list and has been translated into Japanese, Korean, Thai and German. Dr. Faber is also a regular contributor to several leading financial publications around the world. a well know and sought-after contrarian fundamentalist will emphasize on the recent collapse of the global financial system and will analyze this to answer our main concern, 'Is all this leading to global slump?' Dr Faber has been The Family Office's guest of an earlier conference, and his approach is always well appreciated when trying to add controversial but well documented and supported views.

Being more focused on the mechanism of the markets, our last speaker, Ryan Marshall, Managing Director of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. New York, will share his firm's view on the credit space, from the roots of this crisis to emerging opportunities for investors. Finding embryonic evidences of the causes of the current crisis in the credit market, Mr Marshall anticipates real opportunities in this space where valuations are at all time low due to lack of liquidity and investors' unrational behaviors.

This full day event on Thursday December 18th in Bahrain is expected more than ever to offer an exceptional opportunity to bring together investors and speakers from diverse backgrounds to share and debate their views, in the toughest times of the last decades. Following on from the standards set at its previous conferences, The Family Office looks forward to providing attendees with unique and most needed market insights and themes.

The Family Office Co., BSC (c) is the first significant multi-family office serving affluent families and individuals in the Gulf region. Headquartered in Bahrain, it is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain with a UK affiliate, TFO Management LLP, authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA).