IslamicFinance.de

A sharia-compliant tradeable security backed by gold will be launched in Dubai next week, Reuters has reported.

The Hedge Fund Review reported on 24 February that the Coffee trading advisor Eiger Trading Advisors has targeted a March launch for four coffee related funds. The funds aim to give investors exposure to the coffee markets through the choice of a hedge fund, a Shariah-compliant fund and two tracker funds. The funds will be domiciled in the Cayman Islands and will launch with approximately $150 million collectively.

The Shariah-compliant Eiger Green Coffee Fund will provide Islamic investors with access to coffee as an asset class. It aims for returns of around 12% a year. The company decided to launch the funds based on its understanding of the coffee industry and the growers. This, the company said, will enable it to exploit trades and generate attractive risk adjusted returns for investors. The funds will target mainly Middle Eastern investors but will not limit itself to particular investors.

The share class will be in dollars. Newedge will act as prime broker for the Coffee Alpha Fund and BNP Paribas will be the prime broker for the Green Coffee Fund. All three funds have a 2% management fee with a 20% performance fee with a high watermark.

FT Adviser reported on 23 February that HSBC is making a number of Sharia-compliant funds available to UK investors for the first time by restructuring them into a single, Luxembourg-domiciled offering. The funds in the range include Global Equity Index, Global Equity, Europe Equity and Asia Pacific ex Japan Equity.

Andy Clark, managing director for UK and Mena wholesale at HSBC, recognises the demand in UK as growing and denounces the perception that Islamic finance is only applicable in the Middle East.

According to a survey by Capintro Partners reported in the Hedge Fund Review a majority of conventional Middle East investors (55%) expect to decrease their allocation to hedge funds in 2009 while 14% expect to increase allocations and 31% plan no change in their allocation.

The top three regions investors favour in 2009 included emerging markets (25%), the US (24%) and Asia, excluding Japan (22%).

Over half (54%) said they use structured products regularly or periodically. Of those who use them, the majority (57%) said they made use of capital guarantee products while under a quarter (23%) said capital/risk management requirements were the main use with only 11% giving leverage as the main usage.

Text based on: http://www.hedgefundsreview.com/public/showPage.html?page=841318

Full study under linked under source.

According to a report of Global Investment House more than 100 Sukuk equivalent to more than USD 38 bn are awaiting issuance if markets recover.

DIB Capital, a 100 % subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank, sees the long term prospect as strong for the Sukuk market according to Nadeem Lodhi, head of capital markets and syndications. Also they are planning to launch a Sukuk fund.

India's Taurus Asset Management will launch a sharia-compliant equity fund monitored by India's Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investment Solutions, an independent Sharia board, to monitor its investments.

Racheal Lee Mei Nyee reported on 16 February in The Edge Daily, that Nomura Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd plans to launch its first product by the second half of this year for the Malaysian market before venturing into the Gulf and other Asian regions, its managing director Toru Nakano said.

The company had set a rather conservative target of USD 1 bn (RM3.6 billion) worth of funds under management within five years. The conventional division currently manages more than USD 1 bn of funds, which are invested both locally and overseas. The Nomura Group had had a presence in the Middle East for 35 years, it was yet to be familiar with Islamic finance and asset management.

Racheal Lee Mei Nyee reported on 16 February in The Edge Daily, that Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd aims with the new licence to approach retail investors and launch funds, which it could not do under the conventional licence. The company is seeking seed funding from institutional investors first and look at retail funds only later.

Gerald Ambrose is managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Sdn Bhd.

Loh Li Lian reported on 4 February on Reuters that Malaysian Asian Finance Bank may halve the size of its planned aviation fund to RM 500 mn (USD 138.2 mn) according to Mohamed Azahari Kamil, the chief executive officer of the bank.

Emirates NBD has launched a fund to take advantage of the high yields currently available in Sukuk following the steep price declines in Q4 2008 caused by the wider turmoil in global financial markets. The Shari’a-compliant Fund targets annualized returns of c.12% over the next four years.

Jamal Bin Ghalaita, General Manager of Consumer Banking and Wealth Management at Emirates NBD, sees Sukuk as undervalued after panic selling last year.

Minimum investment of USD 25,000 for individual investors and USD 1,000,000 for institutional investors. The secondary sukuk market is difficult to access but, by investing through the Fund, investors benefit from scale, diversification, and the skills of expert fund managers. Should the Fund meet certain return targets, the Fund will be called and gains will be locked in for investors.

BNP Paribas Investment Partners currently manages about half a billion USD in Sharia compliant assets and targets according to the chief executive MENA Tariq Al Samahiji to multiply this amount. The bank currently offers equity Sharia management and has recently started marketing its first Islamic bond or sukuk fund.
Al Samahiji expected the sukuk fund to attract investments from institutions and wealthy individuals, but stressed BNP would not market the fund to the retail market.

Caspionet reported on 28 January, that Darakhim Sukuk Basket have been presented in Kazakhstan. It is expected that insurance companies, unit investment funds and pension funds will become the chief buyers of the new investment offer. Basically, they represent the companies of the Middle Eastern states, so they are issues of the central bank of Bahrain, the government of the Arab emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. It is expected that the profitability will amount to 10 % at a minimum with a circulation period of 3 years.

Frederik Richter reported on Arabianbusiness on 1 February that Gulf Finance House is looking for acquisitions of undervalued assets in the region.

Deputy Chief Executive Mehran Jamsheer was cited.

Waheed Abbas from Emirates 24/7 reported on 2 February about the regional investment bank and private equity company Millennium Finance Corporation (MFC), which aims to expands its reach to Saudi Arabia, India and Nigeria through joint ventures and acquiring licences. The firm is also considering IPO.

CEO is Keba Keinde, which gave an exclusive interview with Emirates Business. Please click on the source below.

Bank of London and the Middle East, or BLME, plans to launch at least three funds in 2009 targeting a US dollar based fixed income fund, a UK real estate distressed assets fund and an equities fund according to Adrian Gayler, the newly appointed head of private banking at BLME, told Zawya Dow Jones.

The Scotsman reported on 29 January that SCOTTISH Widows Investment Partnership has launched a joint venture with Manar Financial Investment Company; Swip Saudi Asset Management. It will mainly focus on investment in the insurance sector, but will also manage shariah-compliant global emerging market equities.

News Agency Bernama reported on 29 January that 3 new foreign Islamic fund management companies (IFMCs) have been approved by the Securities Commission to start operations in Malaysia:

The new companies are Aberdeen Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd, BNP Paribas Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd and Nomura Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd; the others who have been approved to establish operations are Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia), DBS Asset Management, CIMB-Principal Asset Management, Global Investment House and Reliance Asset Management.

Shailesh Menon reported in Economic Times on 29 January that Benchmark Asset Management is launching a Shariah-compliant open-ended exchange traded fund. The scheme opens for subscription on February 4 and closes on February 25.

Les Afriques reported on 27 January that the Egyptian central bank has approved the request to create an Islamic fund by Bank of Alexandria. Details are not given.

The Star Malaysia reported on January 24 that AXIS Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is looking at various options to raise capital, including Islamic financing, to buy more properties. The REIT became Sharia compliant last December.

CEO is Stewart LaBrooy.