Several firsts have already been recorded with the advent of 2025, together with a flurry of Islamic investment offerings and deals unveiled over the course of January.
The first Shariah compliant exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Central Asia and the Caucasus was launched by the International Trading System with fund manager IPS Capital on the Astana International Exchange.
The JPMorgan Saudi Arabia Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF became the first internationally-listed fixed-income Saudi Arabian ETF that tracks dollar-denominated bonds and Sukuk issued by the Kingdom’s government and quasi-state entities.
The Ethiopian Securities Exchange was launched as this African nation’s first organized securities exchange – which will also feature Shariah compliant instruments.
New offerings
Pakistan’s Interloop Asset Management, to be rebranded as Shariah compliant Lucky Investments following a recent takeover by the YB Brothers conglomerate, is launching three new funds in 2025.
Shariah compliant ADIB European Logistics Fund I was launched to provide investment access to high-demand logistics assets across Germany and Western Europe.
Sidra Capital is setting up a SAR2 billion (US$533.33 million) Al-Bushra Infrastructure Development Fund in partnership with Sager Group for sustainable housing in Makkah’s Al-Aziziyah district.
The Saudi Capital Market Authority approved the Shariah compliant public offerings of the Al Rajhi Global Sukuk Fund, the Al Rajhi Global Real Estate Sector Fund and the Dinar Saudi Equity Fund.
Deals and investments
Bahrain’s Arcapita and US firm Parkway Venture Capital are co-investing in a portfolio of AI companies. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is buying a minority stake in Innocap Investment Management, a Canadian platform which facilitates capital allocations to multiple hedge funds.
GFH Financial Group bought into Invenergy – a developer, owner and operator of clean energy solutions and projects headquartered in the US – via vehicles managed by Blackstone’s infrastructure group. GFH’s investments and commitments have exceeded US$200 million in the US infrastructure sector, specifically in data centers and AI.
Bahrain’s Investcorp – which is mulling a potential London or New York listing within the next five years – acquired Italian alternative payments enabler Epipoli and was appointed by Malaysian pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) as manager of a special managed account for private equity assets valued at over US$110 million.
Alliance Islamic Bank is underwriting the IPO of industrial pipes producer Pantech Global ahead of a Bursa Malaysia listing in Q1 2025.
The latest Global SWF report highlighted Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company as the world’s top sovereign wealth fund spender in 2024, with US$29.2 billion invested in 52 transactions.
Alternative assets
Egypt’s Hamilton Treasury, with flagship products that include HUSD, a Bitcoin-native stablecoin backed by US Treasuries, raised US$1.7 million in pre-seed funding. GreenX Digital Asset Exchange announced the upcoming listing of Aetherium token as a real-world asset token.
Halal investment platform Musaffa is planning a new equity crowdfunding round. Oman’s Pearl REIF is acquiring a building in Madinat Al Irfan with a 25-year lease agreement, increasing its total investment in real estate properties by 26%.
The Turkish government collected 20.99 kilograms through its gold-denominated lease certificate offering.
Regulatory developments
The UAE Securities and Commodities Authority released its first draft regulation for security and commodity tokens while the Iranian government issued a directive for organizing and supervising the cryptocurrency market.
Equity capital markets
The Philippine Stock Exchange released its updated list of 53 Shariah compliant securities following the quarterly screening for the period ending the 25th December 2024. The Indonesian Sharia Stock Index has grown 1.41% year-to-date, said the Indonesian Financial Services Authority.
Fintech
The Securities Commission Malaysia launched alternative financing scheme SARANA, offered by registered P2P platforms, and also unveiled Malaysia’s first Social Exchange pilot with five NGOs ahead of this initiative’s full operations in 2026.
Indonesia’s fintech Bibit charted over one million Shariah investors.
Wahed Invest’s advertising campaign, which featured images of burning US dollar and euro banknotes, was ruled as in breach of UK advertising standards.
Significant appointments
Bank Negara Malaysia appointed Madelena Mohamed as its assistant governor. Bank of Khyber appointed Amer Sultan Tareen as a board member representing the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Investcorp promoted Neil Rickard to be its new co-head responsible for the Europe business alongside Corey Geis, who has also been appointed as the new co-head responsible for the firm’s US business.
