IslamicFinance.de

In just four weeks, the world’s first Sharia-compliant movie fund has reached more than $40m.
The Black Knight is expected to reach $85-90m by April, half of which will come from UAE investors.
The movie, which is scheduled to be filmed in Morocco and could also include scenes shot in the UAE, is the first instalment in a trilogy of films and will be released in 2012.

Shariah-compliant funds manager, Crescent Funds Management, has been granted an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).
Tax adviser and auditor was appointed Ernst & Young and custodian, JP Morgan.

In recent years Guernsey has seen an increase in Shariah-compliant investment funds.
Guernsey has become an attractive jurisdiction for Middle East and Islamic investment business because of:
a.) Regulation - Guernsey is a well-regulated jurisdiction and does not offer unregulated funds structures, which means that it generally one of the best regarded jurisdictions for governance;
b.) Service providers - Guernsey has high quality service providers, who are able to provide legal, accounting, valuation, registrar, company secretarial and audit services for the structuring, launch and ongoing administration of funds with a Middle East and/or Islamic focus.
c.) Structural flexibility - Guernsey funds structures range from companies (including protected cell companies) to unit trusts and limited partnerships, providing a number of options for Middle East and Islamic clients to structure their product to suit its needs and to take advantage of efficiencies, such as those provided in respect of protected cell companies

The Organization of the Islamic Conference based in Jeddah hired Standard & Poor’s to start an index of about 50 of the most-traded stocks in the first quarter of 2011.
The index, which will track listed equities that comply with Islam’s ban on alcohol, gaming and tobacco, aims to target exchange-traded funds.

Royal London 360° has increased the fund range of three of its regular premium products to give clients more choice.
Nine fund management groups and seven sectors have also been added across the three ranges. The company has added Asian bond funds, three new currency/money market funds, four new Islamic funds, a Russian fund and one within the Equity Middle East and North Africa sector.

AmInvestment Bank Group sets its target to RM25bil for next year from about RM22.3bil as at end-October.
This year, the division launched 12 funds and may introduce about the same number next year.
With an initial fund size of RM100mil, the newly-launched fund is expected to generate a double-digit return in the long term.

National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), UK considers to create a fund based sharia compliant solution, according to the CIO of the firm, Mark Fawcett along with different other mandates, such as: high risk/return, low risk/return and socially/ethically responsible.

Managers of Islamic endowments with $105 billion in assets want to provide Shariah-compliant funds with the chance to capture new business by seeking to diversify out of bank deposits
Ernst&Young state that assets held by Islamic funds have stagnated at around $52 billion since 2008.
Nida Raza has the strong oppionion that islamic endowment institutions should diversify their real- estate holdings into government sukuk and other products.

Managers of Islamic endowments with $105 billion in assets are seeking to diversify out of bank deposits, providing Shariah-compliant funds with the chance to capture new business.
Assets held by Islamic funds have stagnated at around $52 billion since 2008.
Islamic endowment institutions should diversify their real- estate holdings into government sukuk and other products.

There will be launched two Islamic funds from Public Mutual Bhd, Public Islamic Alpha-40 Growth Fund (PIA40GF) and Public Islamic Infrastructure Bond Fund (PIINFBF).
The equity exposure of PIA40GF will range between 75 per cent and 98 per cent of its net asset value (NAV).
The initial issue price of PIA40GF and PIINFBF is RM0.2500 per unit and RM1.00 per unit, respectively, during the 21-day initial offer period from Nov 16 to Dec 6 2010.
The minimum initial investment for both funds is RM1,000 and the minimum additional investment is RM100.

Islamic private equity funds in the Persian Gulf plan to take advantage of lower asset prices after the property market in Dubai tumbled as much as 50 percent from its peak in 2008.
The National and Kipco Asset Management Co., a Kuwaiti investment bank, started a $200 million Shariah-compliant fund this month.

Shariah-compliant mutual funds give decent returns in a slightly bearish market.
In India, Taurus Mutual Fund has Taurus Ethical Fund, Benchmark Mutual Fund has Shariah Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme and Tata Mutual Fund has the Tata Select Equity Fund.

In a recently published quarterly report by Kuwait Financial Centre "Markaz", which aims to analyze the performance of over 150 equity funds across the region, GCC markets were positive in the third quarter as all markets saw gains following a lackluster summer and slow Ramadan month. The Dubai World debt issue was resolved with creditors coming on board for the restructuring.
Fund managers continue to favor Saudi Arabia, with an allocation of 42% though down from 45% in June 2010.

Tata Group’s investment unit is seeking to attract about $100 million within three years to India’s first Shariah-compliant fund aimed at global investors, targeting equities in a country that lacks regulations for establishing an Islamic debt market.
The Tata Indian Shariah Equity Fund has $3 million after being set up in June to tap investment mainly from the Middle East.
India has no Islamic finance policies, restricting sales of Shariah-compliant bonds in a nation with 157 million Muslims, according to Paris-based BNP Paribas SA and Standard Chartered Plc.

Pakistan’s largest Shariah funds plan to bid for the 80 billion rupees of Islamic debt the government will offer in coming weeks after a 14-month suspension of sales.
Pakistan is selling the debt as the nation’s Islamic banking assets increased an average 30 percent in the past four years. Investors might prefer securities due in a year or less after record floods in August pushed up prices of goods and forced the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in 17 months, according to Al Meezan and NBP Fullerton.

Emirati housewife Sarah Alzarouni brushed past a group of women clad in traditional dress to enter through the frosted doors of one of Dubai Islamic Bank’s women-only branches.
Alzarouni greeted the female tellers and sat down to do business.
Many affluent Muslim women share Alzarouni’s sentiments and they are increasingly turning to Islamic banks to manage their money. These women are looking beyond basic banking services to sophisticated products to grow their wealth while complying with Islamic principals that include a ban on interest.
Financial institutions in the Gulf Arab region, where many women are reluctant to mix with men outside their families, are tapping into the niche, with women-only bank branches and investment funds mushrooming. Saudi Arabia is leading the charge.
Abu Dhabi-based Al Bashayer Investments, a conventional wealth management firm geared towards women investors, is also looking to launch Islamic products to address the needs of women in the region who prefer investments that are in keeping with their religious beliefs.

Islamic private equity funds in the Persian Gulf plan to take advantage of lower asset prices after the property market in Dubai tumbled as much as 50 percent from its peak in 2008.
Middle East and North Africa investment groups have about $10 billion available after raising a record $5.4 billion in 2008 that they haven’t been able to spend, Gulf Venture Capital Association said in a July 20 statement. Mid-sized businesses in the Gulf may need as much as $1 billion from investors, Jalil said. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of regional stocks has declined 26 percent since the end of September 2008 after credit markets collapsed.

Islamic private equity funds in the Persian Gulf plan to take advantage of lower asset prices after the property market in Dubai tumbled as much as 50 percent from its peak in 2008.
The National and Kipco Asset Management Co., a Kuwaiti investment bank, started a $200 million Shariah-compliant fund this month, Yahya Jalil, director of private equity at Abu Dhabi-based investment and advisory company The National Investor, said. Bahrain’s Capital Management House plans to complete a transaction and buy stakes in companies specializing in aviation and energy, Chairman Khalid Al Bassam said.

MUSLIM countries should allocate a fraction of their sovereign funds to financial institutions which have the expertise to invest in syariah-compliant investment funds and instruments.
Perak Regent Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said one of the driving forces for Islamic finance to prosper is for large investment organisations such as sovereign wealth funds of Muslim countries to take a developmental view when determining their asset allocations.
Initiatives such as the commodity trading paltform Bursa Suq Al-Sila can be utilised to facilitate liquidity management of Islamic financial instituions.
Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Bank and Cagamas Bhd also collaborated to issue an innovative sukuk which aims to meet the syariah demands of investors in the Middle East as well as in Asia.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Qatar Islamic Bank's Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A' with a Stable Outlook. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed QIB's Short-term IDR at 'F1', Individual rating at 'C', Support rating at '1' and Support Rating Floor at 'A'. At the same time, QIB Sukuk Funding Limited's $ 750m Sukuk issue of senior unsecured trust certificates has been affirmed at 'A'.
QIB's Individual Rating also considers the bank's well-established and strong domestic franchise, together with an environment reflecting high levels of economic activity. Fitch considers that the trend of rapid credit growth could negatively affect the bank's financial performance indicators as the loan book seasons or if there were further stresses in Qatar's real estate segment.