Fund developments and regulatory changes took center stage in July, providing a vibrant start to the second half of the year.
Funds
The month saw two jurisdictions charting firsts for Islamic funds – Lion-BIBDS Islamic Enhanced Liquidity Fund became the first Islamic fixed income mutual fund managed within Brunei and CSOP MSCI HK China Connect Select ETF as the first Shariah compliant ETF listed on the Hong Kong Exchange.
Forsat Afarin listed its tradable investment funds on the Tehran Stock Exchange, SEDCO Capital Multi Asset Traded Fund and Alkhabeer Diversified Income Traded Fund 2030 were listed on the Saudi Exchange and the Atlas Islamic Cash Fund was listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Malaysia’s BIMB Investment Management launched the BIMB MYR Sukuk Income Fund, Emerging Africa Asset Management launched an open-ended mutual fund in Nigeria that invests in Shariah compliant financial instruments and Franklin Templeton launched seven feeder funds – two Shariah compliant and five conventional – for the onshore UAE retail market.
New funds approved by the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia (CMA) include the Al Rajhi PetroChemical Fund and Al Rajhi Large-Cap Fund, the SEDCO Capital IPO Fund, the SNB Capital Waqf Investment Fund and the GIB Opportunistic Indian Equity Fund.
Upcoming funds include the Alta Exchange, Phillip Securities and Hamilton Lane joint initiative to introduce a tokenized Shariah compliant private credit fund for a private income product as part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Project Guardian, while Indonesia’s KISI Asset Management is planning a global Islamic mutual fund that invests in technology stocks.
Also being considered are the Islamic version of Affin Bank’s Cross Light Capital Performa Digital Asset Fund while Dallah Health inked a non-binding MoU with Aljazira Capital, Dallah Real Estate and Tatweer to explore a private real estate fund with an estimated value exceeding SAR1.2 billion (US$319.65 million), to acquire and develop lands.
Regulators
Regulations-wise, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan is revising costs associated with the operation of mutual funds and pension funds to boost retail participation and the Financial Services Authority (OJK) launched its 2024-2028 Indonesian Pension Fund Development roadmap.
The UAE is regulating SPVs to encourage securitization and Sukuk issuances, Qatar plans to enact a digital assets framework by Q4 2024 while both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait proposed regulatory enhancements on debt instruments offerings – including bonds, Sukuk and exchange-traded funds. Pakistan is imposing new taxes on Sukuk investments.
New Saudi CMA investment operation licenses were granted to Pinnacle Capital, Amwal Capital Almaliyah and FAAD Capital Partners.
Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional, having acquired seed funders Malaysia Venture Capital Management and Penjana Kapital, launched a new RM1 billion (US$216 million) National Fund-of-Funds for these two entities to manage.
The UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation approved Lunate and Daman Investments under the voluntary alternative savings scheme for end-of-service savings.
Deals and more
On the deals front, Al Mal Capital REIT acquired the real estate assets of Kent College Dubai while Jadwa REIT Saudi Fund sold for SAR190 million (US$50.61 million) its property in the Saudi city of Dammam and Mulkia Gulf Real Estate REIT acquired Malathak Tower 2 in Riyadh.
Kingdom Holding Company, Sumou Holding Company and Jeddah Economic Company inked a deal to set up a SAR6.8 billion (US$1.81 billion) fund to acquire the Alinma Jeddah Economic City Real Estate Fund. In the UK, Mayfair Equity Partners invested in Shariah compliant private wealth advisory and fund services provider VG.
Alternate investments saw Bursa Carbon Exchange auction the first Malaysian Nature-based Carbon Credits Plus from the Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project with seven successful local bidders, while the Turkish government collected 6.14 kilograms of gold from the issuance of its gold-denominated lease certificate.
Jewel Digital Venture and Raiz Invest Australia, joint venture partners of the Malaysian operation of micro investment platform Raiz, are shutting the Malaysian operations. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund charted a profit of SAR138.1 billion (US$36.81 billion) in 2023, a turnaround after posting a loss of SAR58.55 billion (US$15.6 billion) a year earlier.
Significant appointments include Ahmed Kouchouk as minister of finance of Egypt, Abdul Rauf Chandio is new CEO at Pakistan’s Sindh Modaraba Management and Dr Koroush Parvizian as the new head of Iran’s Monetary and Banking Research Institute.
