(openPR) - 16 February, 2006, Cologne. Michael Gassner of Islamic Finance.de Consultancy has tapped Lisa Gray, president and CEO of USA-based graymatter STRATEGIES LLC to lead a conference session and a full day workshop on family office-related topics for the 2nd Islamic Wealth Management Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, 28 and 29 March, 2006. Ms. Gray’s proprietary Wealth Optimization Consulting™ concept facilitates the view of wealth as an asset by which to enhance a family’s innate human and intellectual capital, identifying a path for Islamic families to use their wealth for the benefit of family members and society as a whole. This view is contrary to the predominant world view of the accumulation of wealth as an end unto itself.

Ms. Gray works with family offices and their advisors to meet the goals and objectives unique to each family by identifying the influence of each family’s inherent dynamics and generational perspectives on wealth management decisions. The concept is outlined in her book, The New Family Office: Innovative Strategies for Consulting to the Affluent (Euromoney Books, 2004). She recently developed a proprietary set of matrices designed to be an aid in identifying these influences and using them to develop appropriate, strategic, goal-based allocations balanced with philanthropic interests.

Through her firm, Ms. Gray emphasizes the importance of ongoing investor and advisor education in her work and is a sought-after resource for the family office and financial services industries on family office-related matters. She is a frequent author on family office and wealth management topics and is a panelist, speaker, and media resource as well as a consultant.

About Islamic Finance.de Consultancy

The Michael Gassner Consultancy is the leading research and advisory firm on Islamic finance in Germany. It publishes “Islamic Finance.de Executive News,” the leading bulletin for executives, with a circulation of over 2000 monthly readers. The firm works with financial institutions to develop and structure products based on banking and finance principles, yet supported by a general understanding of the objectives and principles of Islamic law. The firm also offers marketing advise, roadshow organisation and trainings. For more information, visit www.islamicfinance.de.

About graymatter STRATEGIES LLC

graymatter STRATEGIES LLC is a USA-based consultancy focused on elevating the effectiveness of relationship between families of wealth and their advisors. The firm also provides marketing consulting and writing services designed to support its proprietary Wealth Optimization Consulting™ method. The firm’s founder, Lisa Gray, has 17 years’ experience in the wealth management industry and has served on the CFA Institute’s editorial board for financial writers and has been a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association, the CFA Institute, and the Memphis Society of Financial Analysts. For more information, visit www.graymatterstrategiesllc.com.

Press Contact:
Michael Saleh Gassner
Kyffhaeuserstr 8, 59674 Cologne, Germany

Office:+49 7000 42 77 637
mobile +49 179 69 31 822
gassner@islamicfinance.de