Financial Thought Leaders Summit Begins in Doha

Doha, May 04 (QNA) - A two-day Financial Though Leaders Summit was opened here today to discuss various issues including the changing landscape of investor relations, regulatory trends and issues affecting small cap companies, project financing, capital raising, IPO trends, mergers and acquisitions, and the shifting trend of taxes in the region.
Speaking at the opening session, HE Sheikh Nawaf Bin Nasser Bin Khaled Al Thani presented management styles of family owned companies: "Family owned businesses happen to be run very differently from listed companies. The different ownership structure for both types of company provides for different management, leadership styles, and of course, different levels of risk tolerance. Family members in a firm leadership have a positive impact on the performance of a company; however this can prove to be quite a challenge to senior management in such firms."
He discussed the role of the leadership body within a company and outlined the commonalities between both family-owned and publicly owned business. Towards the end of his address, he summarised: "I firmly believe that the future is very bright for Qatar and our focus should lie on exceptional management, and especially superior financial management, that will enable us to weather off any upcoming challenges, while maintaining a strong platform for growth and expansion."
Following the opening, CEO of Doha Bank Group R. Seetharaman delivered a keynote on the transformation of leadership in upcoming years. When asked about the role of CEOs, Mr. Seetharaman shared: "CEOs have to spend more time understanding the changes affecting external environment conditions as it is significantly impacting the modern business. CEOs develop their new strategies in line with the changing external environment conditions. The key factors affecting the external environment in financial services include globalisation, consumerism, regulation framework and cutting edge technologies."
The summit continued with an address by Adam Lomas, Director of Learning and Research, QFBA. He educated the audience on the importance of experience, passion and emotional intelligence as key elements of leadership. Lomas highlighted that the right time to be a leader is: "When it feels right; when you can look in the mirror and accept what you are doing; when feedback is something to look forward to and when you could have done something for yourself but you did it for someone else."
The first edition of the Financial Thought Leaders Summit continued with a panel discussion on 'Learning from the Gurus'. The afternoon featured sessions on: The changing landscape of investor relations, regulatory trends and issues affecting small cap companies, project financing, capital raising, IPO trends, mergers and acquisitions, and the shifting trend of taxes in the region. (QNA)