First Shariah compliant money market fund in Europe launched

First Shariah compliant money market fund in Europe launched

Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME) has launched the first Shariah compliant money market fund in Europe. Using Luxembourg’s specialised investment funds law, BLME has appointed European Fund Administration (EFA) and Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat (BCEE) for fund servicing and custody.

 BLME Umbrella Fund SICAV-SIF, worth over $50 million, invests in a diversified portfolio of high quality Islamic money market instruments, such as commodity murabaha (exchange contract trade), sukuk (Islamic bonds) and ijara (assets leasing).

To respond to the significant market growth in Islamic investments, EFA has tailored the fund to its open fund accounting architecture and transfer agency platform while offering specific training to a dedicated team.

BLME is an independent UK wholesale Shariah compliant bank based in London authorised by the Financial Services Authority. It offers innovative Islamic investment and financing products to businesses and high net-worth individuals in the European, the US, South-East Asian and Middle East and North Africa regions.

EFA is an independent company specialised in administrating investment vehicles. It manages 2,700 funds units worth over €100 billion for more than 215 clients.

Shari’ah-compliant stock index in Canada launched

Shari’ah-compliant stock index in Canada launched

Turns out, the Canadian stock market is a good place for Islamic investors.

On Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s launched the S&P/TSX 60 Shariah Index, which is essentially the S&P/TSX 60 index stripped of companies that do not meet Shariah principles that keep investors away from interest-charging companies (banks), pork producers, alcohol producers, casinos and tobacco companies.

The good thing about the Canadian blue chip index is that, apart from banks, there isn’t a whole lot of these no-no companies around. No tobacco. No casinos. No alcohol. No pork.

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Shariah-compliant water fund set to launch

Shariah-compliant water fund set to launch

Bahrain-based Robeco Middle East has announced that it will be launching one of the world’s first Islamic water funds.

The launch will be in association with their boutique SAM, one of the world’s leading asset managers in the field of sustainability investments, and in conjunction with Gatehouse Bank, one of the leading Islamic banks.

It will offer, on a global basis, the first-ever Sharia-compliant investment strategy in the area of water.

This investment strategy offers professional investors with a long-term investment horizon the opportunity to participate in the worldwide growth of forward-looking, sustainability-oriented companies involved in the entire value chain of water, while adhering to Sharia norms.

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Dow Jones indexes named best Shari’ah-compliant index provider

Dow Jones indexes named best Shari’ah-compliant index provider

Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced that it has been named “Best Shari’ah-Compliant Index Provider” by Global Finance magazine for the second consecutive year.

The Global Finance awards for World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions honor those financial institutions that make significant contributions to the growth of Islamic finance and successfully meet their clients’ needs for Shari’ah-compliant products, while creating the foundation for continued fast growth in the future.

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Shariah-compliant mutual fund launched in South Africa

Shariah-compliant mutual fund launched in South Africa

Shariah40, an exchange-traded fund aimed at South Africa’s 400000 Muslim households, started trading on the JSE on Monday.

The initial public offering for the new top 40 index ETF opened on February 23 and raised R27-million ahead of listing.

The ETF is part of Absa Capital’s range. Ongoing screening of the sharia compliance of the ETF is conducted by Absa’s Islamic banking sharia supervisory board.

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