Arindon's 2013 Investor Conference draws record attendance in Bahrain

"We are very proud to have brought the Investors Conference to Bahrain for the 5th consecutive year which has grown from strength to strength. The success of the event is testament to Bahrain's hunger and keen interest in developing itself as a hub for intellectual capital," said Anthea Ameer, host and Managing Director at Arindon, the investor relations company.

Christian Kern, Head of MENA Equity Research at J.P.Morgan, points out, "Budgets of Gulf economies remain expansionary and focused on economic diversification. This is supportive for regional equity markets and refreshing compared to the current austerity programmes in Europe and fiscal consolidation in the US."

The Capital Markets Panel, chaired by Boyd Winton, Director of Financial Services at Bahrain's Economic Development Board, discussed the driving forced behind the fixed income boom and the prospects for continued growth of emerging market debt.

Gohar Bilal, Head of Islamic Finance at JP Morgan, stated, "GCC and MENA fixed income markets have been on fire in recent months as global investors' search for yield has led them to put more money in this region. At present it's a win-win situation that allows borrowers from the region to tap the market for funding at very decent levels, while providing investors with a relatively attractive return on a risk-reward basis. Nevertheless this dynamic is far from static and 2013 will certainly be an interesting year to watch in this space."

The event was supported by ALBA, Mumtalakat, SICO, Al Baraka Banking Group, the Economic Development Board of Bahrain and Design Grafix.