The high-profile FII Conference was recently held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The conference, held by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, attracting more than 6,000 world leaders from over 30 countries in Riyadh. Three days of immersive discussions focused on hot issues in the global investment community. Patrick Zhong, the Founding Managing Partner of M31 Capital was invited to address in the forum themed by “Searching for companies: Are private equity deals drying up?”.
As an international platform led by professionals for debate among global leaders, investors and innovators. FII is committed to the realization of innovative and disruptive technologies through investment-driven growth and addressing global challenges, which is called Davos in the Desert. More than 6,000 world leaders from over 30 countries attended the conference. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, senior White House adviser and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and other state and government officials, World Bank President Thomas Malpass, Founder and CEO of Blackrock Larry Fink, Group Chief Executive of HSBC Holdings plc, Noel Quinn, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company, KSA John Pagano, founder of Softbank Masayoshi Son, DiDi Chuxing Chairman Jean Liu, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Hony Capital John Zhao, world-known director Oliver Stone and other famous guests attended the forum.
The forum invited a number of economic authorities to discuss current global trends. Patrick Zhong also expressed his opinion on how PE seeking new investment opportunities. He believes that the transformation of traditional industries brought by technology will create opportunities for the investment of great enterprises and celebrities. How to explore the investment target featuring sustainability and progressiveness remains one of the core competitiveness that PE needs to build.
Discussing the challenges faced by investors, Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO, & Co-founder, The Blackstone Group L.P. said: “We’re all dealing with more uncertainty than we were… Ten years ago you could make an investment and be reasonably sure that the basic model was going to remain intact. Now, whenever you make an investment you look at to see whether that company’s business model is resilient knowing its going to be challenged. You’re either going to be a disruptor or you’re going to be disrupted. Or maybe both at the same time.”
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, worried that the global economy is threatened by an explosive combination of ineffective monetary policies, widening inequality and climate change, which together will lead to terrible situation over the next decade. “Technology, such as artificial intelligence, will increase productivity and it will also substantially increase the wealth gap.” He said.
Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of Softbank Corporation remains optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence, “Today I would say AI applies to around 10% of tasks while the human brain still beats it for 90%. This will change dramatically over the next 30 years as computing power increases.” he said.
