IslamicFinance.de

Gatehouse Bank will launch a Shari’ah-compliant Structured Trade Finance Fund in early 2010. Parnter is the wholesale Islamic market intermediary company DDCAP. The aim of the fund is to invest capital in structured trade finance transactions.

The Financial Times produced a special looking into the Future of Islamic Finance.

The download is free of charge.

Yasaar media published a new report called Islamic Finance in North America 2009 for free download, which is co-published by Codexa Capital, UM Financial Group, King & Spalding, and Doha Islamic.

According to the report Islamic finance in North America has developed along two quite separate paths:

• The first path focuses on retail Islamic finance and centres mostly on home financing products and credit cards.

• The second path involves a number of high profile GCC-based Islamic investment banks and their deployment of hundreds of millions of dollars in private equity and real estate developments in North America.

Read the full report for free at the link below.

French bank BNP Paribas may raise as much as USD 300 mn for a Gulf-based private equity fund, according to a Reuters report. The fund has been set up to tap into opportunities arising from the financial crisis.

Bahrain-based Islamic investment house Tharawat said it plans to raise USD 100 million by year-end for a sukuk fund it recently launched to focus on bargains on the secondary market.

Tharawat was established in July 2008 with a paid-up capital of $33 million.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) plans to launch the Middle East’s first exchange-traded fund to try to attract more international investors. The fund, known as an ETF, will be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) in two months, a senior NBAD official said. It will be licensed by a leading global index provider and will track some of the Gulf’s 50 biggest stocks, said Giyas Gokkent, NBAD’s co-head of asset management and chief economist.

National Bank of Kuwait announced the launch of its “Islamic KD Ijara Fund II”. This fund is the eighteenth edition of the Islamic Ijara funds and the second from the Kuwaiti Dinar series and is will offer Private Banking clients an investment product that generates monthly income of 6.25% throughout the Fund’s term.

The Fund is entirely compliant with the laws of Islamic Shariah as approved by the independent Shariah board for Islamic funds marketed by NBK in Kuwait, comprised of Sheikh Dr. Khalid Mathkor Al-Mathkor, Sheikh Dr. Essa Zaki Shakra and Sheikh Dr. Abdul Aziz Khalifa Al-Qassar.

Tariq Al Rifai joined Dow Jones Indexes as Director for Islamic Indexes. He previously worked for Unicorn, a Bahraini investment bank. The former global director, Rushdi Siddiqui, moved on to ThomsonReuters as previously reported, spearheading the Islamic finance efforts.

Funds at Work, a strategy consultant for the fund industry, analysed the Shariah scholars' engagement in financial service organisations in the GCC countries covering 131 companies with 498 Sharia Board positions and 121 scholars from 19 different countries.

The study shows that the Top 10 scholars (15 or more positions) share 253 positions leading to 25.3 positions per scholar. The numbers indicate taht about 54.18 % of all Sharia Board positions throughout the GCC are shared by only 11 of the active scholars if board positions of the Top 10 are summed up.

The detailed summary of the study is free for download.

Vision3, conceived by Gulf Finance House, Abu Dhabi Investment House and Ithmaar Bank signed an MoU with Morocco's largest bank, Attijariwafa, signaling their intention to establish AgriCap Invest, a specialized food and agriculture focused investment institution in the Kingdom of Morocco. The new firm will offer intelligent financial solutions to agricultural initiatives in the Kingdom of Morocco and across North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean and the broader MENA region.

Amara Holdings, a Dubai investment firm, and New China Trust Company’s subsidiary, Shanghai Ding Hai Investment Management Company, will identify and evaluate Islamic finance investment opportunities in China for themselves and co-investors and clients.

The first onshore Shariah-compliant real estate fund in the Australian market, The LM Australian Alif Fund, was officially launched at end of May in Bahrain. The fund is managed by LM Investment Management Ltd., a specialist Australian income funds manager operating internationally and which is aimed at Islamic investors who are looking for opportunities in alternative investments and in new markets.

Mushtak Parker interviewed Ken Scott-Hamilton, general manager (Middle East), LM Investment Management Ltd., for Arab News about the rationale behind launching the fund and the opportunities and challenges for Islamic finance in Australia.

HwangDBS Investment Management Bhd launched its first local sukuk fund, HwangDBS AIIMAN Sukuk Fund (ASF).

HSBC Amanah, the financial group's Islamic division, said it will start marketing its first Islamic Sukuk fund.

The HSBC Amanah Sukuk Fund, domiciled in Saudi Arabia, will comprise Sukuk, issued by 12 to 14 companies, mostly in the real estate, commercial banking and utilities sectors based in the Gulf Cooperation Council area. It would seek to raise USD 100 million for the fund, which has a 4-year maturity and will target mid- to high-single-digit annual returns.

Jovian Capital Corporation announced an agreement with UM Financial Inc. to explore the launch of a
co-branded, Shariah-compliant investment product. The product targets Canada's approximately 1 million strong Muslim population, as well as foreign investors looking for a uniquely Canadian, Shariah-compliant investment.

SALAMA, the world's largest Takaful and Re-Takaful Group ties up with Crédit Agricole Asset Management Group (CAAM Group), to offer 3 Islamic funds: BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) quantitative fund, an active Asian equities ex-Japan and a Global Equity fund of Islamic funds.

Thomas Weisel Asset Management LLC partnered to form an alliance with IdealRatings, Inc. to create funds and separately managed accounts to invest in small and mid-cap U.S. companies.

Through an initial investment by Thomas Weisel Asset Management, IdealRatings, Inc. will manage the process of achieving individually tailored Shariah compliance for Thomas Weisel Asset Management clients, including supplying software, research tools and scholar support.

IdealRatings, Inc. and Thomas Weisel Asset Management will target Shariah focused investors, Islamic institutions and international family offices.

QInvest will soon launch a USD 250 mn private equity fund and another sector-specific fund as well as two other funds by the third quarter of this year reported Santhosh V Perumal in Gulf Times

The Qatar Financial Centre-based firm, whose principal shareholders are Qatar Islamic Bank and Gulf Finance House, also said it would also embark on brokerage and wealth management services.

CEO is Shahzad Shahbaz.

Gatehouse Bank launches with Sustainable Assets Management (SAM) an Islamic compliant mutual fund focussing on sustainability-oriented companies that offer technologies, products and services throughout the entire value chain of the water industry.

Cyprus listed SFS Group and Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) aim to launch a USD 150 mn fund. Fund's objective is to invest directly in shipping assets and primarily in vessels to be chartered out on a long-term basis to top league charterers. The fund will be established through a limited partnership in the Cayman Islands before the end of 2009.

Ab Jabar Ab Rahman is the deputy chief executive officer of Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad.