The 2025 global story may not be as vibrant as we would have hoped – while inflation has eased and economies have expanded; they are nowhere near 2024 or pre-pandemic levels. What colored the past year was intense protectionism, thanks to US President Donald Trump’s brash and flippant tariff policies. The world of finance is deeply intertwined with politics – and 2025 has been weighed heavily by geopolitics and trade tensions.
Yet, when we zoom into regions where Islamic finance thrives, the story is slightly different. In the Middle East, the GCC’s modest growth has stood out with impressive above-global growth driven by their ongoing diversification efforts and major vision-led infrastructure investments. In the same vein, Southeast Asia’s growth this year has been exemplary, powered by local demand, tourism recovery and supply chain shifts, despite fragmented policy responses toward US tariff pressures.
These positive regional backdrops have benefited Islamic investments – from steady Sukuk offerings to resilient Islamic fund growth and an uptick in emerging products. Shariah investment funds alone crossed the US$700 billion mark through 2,616 funds, according to the IFN Investor Funds Database.
Several themes emerged in 2025 including: the scaling of digital Islamic investment platforms and products, especially within the tokenization realm, to capture retail flows; deeper GCC-ASEAN connectivity to widen market and improve fund distribution efficiency; and greater integration of Shariah and ESG mandates into strategic allocations.
These, as explained in the subsequent pages of this IFN Investor Annual Report, underscore the continued institutionalization of Islamic asset management making the sector more systemically relevant. It also reaffirms the vital roles played by different industry stakeholders – a reality we take seriously, and we are very pleased to have been able to officially recognize and honor the exceptional institutions across the Islamic asset management industry, from fund managers to ancillary service providers, through the inaugural IFN Investor Awards.
It has been a pleasure curating this report and we look forward to the next one.
Most sincerely,
Vineeta Tan
Managing Editor & Director
REDmoney Group
