Islamic exchange traded funds poised for growth as interest grows

There is huge room for growth in Islamic exchange traded funds with around 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide and $950 billion in assets under the management of the Islamic finance industry, it is claimed. The first Sharia compliant ETF was launched in January 2007 based on a large cap global index from Dow Jones. Since then, other ETF providers have entered the market. Since the first Sharia compliant fund, iShares, a leading provider of ETFs, has also introduced Sharia compliant ETFs that are all currently based on holding physical equities. ‘Private clients’ advisers in conventional banks also report including Sharia compliant ETFs in client portfolios in combinations with actively managed funds and structured products, according to Broadwell, iShares vice president.