Cannes, Dubai, Lake Como: Alan Talib at the Global Family Office Investment Summit

By Alan Talib

CEO and Founder, NordGulf Alliance

Summits from June 2025 to June 2026
Posts from June 2025 to June 2026 · 6 min read

Cannes, June 2025: before and after

I’m truly honored to have been selected as a VIP Speaker at the prestigious Global Family Office Investment Summit, set against the stunning backdrop of Cannes on the French Riviera, taking place on June 26-27, 2025.

Having spent many years navigating the intersection between Nordic innovation and global investment opportunities, I’m particularly appreciative of Anthony Ritossa and the summit organizers for creating such an influential platform. Their work continues to foster meaningful dialogues, trust-building across cultures, and strategic connections that resonate profoundly with executives and family offices.

I look forward to sharing insights from my experience in bridging Nordic excellence with international markets, and to engaging with the exceptional attendees, family offices, and fellow speakers at this remarkable event.

Eager for the enriching discussions ahead! Anthony Ritossa

It was an honor to speak at the Global Family Office Investment Summit and connect with so many incredible individuals who are actively creating positive change in our world.

Anthony Ritossa, I can't thank you enough for organizing such an extraordinary gathering. The caliber of people you brought together was truly exceptional - in just 48 hours, NordGulf Alliance was able to secure two deals worth nearly $40 million. I never expected that two of our five portfolio companies would achieve joint ventures and investment commitments this quickly. This speaks volumes about the remarkable network you've built.

But beyond the business outcomes, this summit reinforced something I deeply believe: world peace begins with the bonds we forge in business.

When we create deep commercial relationships across cultures and borders, we become genuinely invested in each other's wellbeing. Money flowing between different nations and peoples becomes like blood flowing through the veins of one interconnected, peaceful body. The stronger these business connections grow, the healthier our global network becomes.

History shows us again and again that when trade flows between different cultures and locations, peace follows. When we intertwine our economic destinies, we create something more powerful than any treaty or agreement - we create mutual prosperity and understanding.

Every deal we close, every partnership we form, every investment that crosses borders brings us one step closer to a more connected and peaceful world. The conversations at this summit weren't just about business, they were about building bridges that can support generations of collaboration.

Thank you to everyone who shared their vision, their deals, and their dreams. This is how we change the world - one relationship, one partnership, one handshake at a time.

Cannes, September 2025: before and after

At the last Global Family Office Investment Summit in Cannes, we saw how powerful these gatherings can be the success carried forward from that summit continues to shape opportunities and partnerships today.

Next week, I am humbled to return to Cannes as a VIP Speaker, representing NordGulf Alliance at the 27th Edition of this extraordinary forum. My deepest appreciation goes to Anthony Ritossa , whose vision continues to create an atmosphere where families, technologies, and companies come together in ways that shape the future.

I also want to thank the entire Global Family Office Investment Summit possible. These events are more than conferences, they are living platforms where innovation meets capital, and where trust grows into long-term collaboration.

I look forward to joining leaders from around the world once again in Cannes, continuing the dialogue that has already proven so impactful.

Last week at the Global Family Office Investment Summit in Cannes, we did not walk away with multi-million-dollar agreements. What we found was something I value even more enduring: alliances and friendships that will outlast any contract.

My first thanks go to Anthony Ritossa for creating this extraordinary summit and bringing together such remarkable people. The atmosphere he builds is unlike any other—intimate, sincere, almost family-like. It is a place where conversations are not just about capital, but about trust, shared vision, and the bonds that carry beyond business.

I am also grateful to the entire Global Family Office community and team who make these gatherings possible. Every detail reflected commitment, care, and the belief that meaningful dialogue matters.

And to my fellow participants Siavosh Derakhti, Anmol Goel, Pedro Guerra Alves, Carlo Almeida, Vishal Arora, Toofan Aslan Shaterloo, Kyle Ewing, MBA —I want to say this: the deep conversations we shared, and the genuine connections we built in such a short time, are rare treasures. These are not the kinds of encounters you come across every day. I look forward to seeing these ties grow into something far beyond professional collaboration, a friendship for life.

In our industry, genuine friendship is rare. To have found it in Cannes is something I will carry with me with gratitude. I leave humbled, happy, and inspired, not only for the business opportunities ahead, but for the lifelong friendships we have begun.

Dubai, February 2026

There are gatherings you attend, and then there are gatherings you return to.

Global Family Office Investment Summit has become that for me. Not just an event in the calendar, but a place where conversations continue, relationships deepen, and familiar faces remind you why trust still matters in business.

Each time we come together, it feels less about schedules and more about people. Exchanging ideas openly. Challenging each other’s thinking. Talking not only about business, but about vision, responsibility, and the long view. These moments stay with you long after the rooms are empty.

I feel genuinely honoured to be part of this community and grateful to Anthony Ritossa for creating a space that feels more like family than a forum. That spirit is rare, and it is protected carefully here.

Looking forward to reconnecting with friends, meeting new members of this extended family, and continuing the conversations that really matter.

After attending several summits with Anthony Ritossa and the Ritossa Family Office team, I've learned something about the Gulf way of doing business that my Nordic clients sometimes struggle to understand: the best deals don't happen on stage.

They happen over coffee with Eni Shtini from T-Blocks, where a conversation about tokenization turns into a real discussion about lowering entry barriers for Nordic innovation into Gulf markets. They happen when Siavosh Derakhti and I map out how QLUBO's founder-investor network could complement what we're building at NordGulf Alliance.

Pedro Guerra Alves and I spent time exploring how real estate investment opportunities could serve the families and institutions we both work with. Different markets, same understanding of what serious capital requires.

And then there's Neda Razavi, MBA Razavi at iSono Health, whose AI-driven breast cancer detection platform represents exactly the kind of breakthrough medical technology that deserves attention from Gulf investors who understand both impact and returns.

In the Gulf, business relationships take time. Trust isn't transactional. Anthony Ritossa, you've built something rare: a space where that trust can actually form. Where the relationship comes before the deal, not after.

That's why it's become more than a summit for me. It's become the foundation of how we work.

Thank you Anthony Ritossa, Anthony Ritossa Family Office, and the entire Global Family Office Investment Summit team for understanding what many in the West still don't: in our part of the world, the network isn't the starting point. It's everything.

Lake Como, June 2026: before the summit

In a few days I will be at Lake Como for the 32nd Global Family Office Investment Summit, and I could not be happier to be back with this family.

Because that is what it has become for me. Not a conference. A family.

My first summit was in Dubai last May. The second was in Cannes, where in a matter of days Nordgulf Alliance secured commitments of close to $40 million into two of our projects. I did not expect deals to come together that fast. They did, because of the room Anthony Ritossa builds.

After that, commitments at home kept me from the US editions, and I felt every one I missed. The conversations that only happen when people sit in the same room. The familiar faces.

What Anthony Ritossa created is rare. Investors, founders, and the people looking for capital all walk in and feel comfortable. They relax. They feel part of something genuinely good. And when people feel that way, trust forms faster and capital moves faster. The relationship comes before the deal, not after.

That is why I keep coming back, and why I am proud to return to the stage at Lake Como.

For Nordic companies looking for Gulf and family capital, rooms like these are where the first introductions happen. Alan attends to make those introductions, not to collect cards.

Looking forward to reconnecting with this community: Anthony Ritossa, Siavosh Derakhti, Pedro Guerra Alves, Eni Shtini, Neda Razavi, MBA Razavi, Anmol Goel, Carlo Almeida, Vishal Arora, Toofan Shaterloo Aslan Shaterloo. See you in Italy.