The IFN Investor Funds Database, the leading intelligence platform on Islamic public fund offerings, recorded 2,733 funds managed by 516 asset management firms, with a combined total AuM of US$446.84 billion as at the 1st June 2026.
The expansion took place in the backdrop of modest European Islamic AuM growth, driven by real estate and money market allocations while global Waqf AuM rose by about 23% quarter-on-quarter boosted by large Saudi funds and a new Omani endowment fund.
Growth is a theme. We see Islamic fund managers growing their portfolios – New York-headquartered Wahed for example, confirmed that its AuM has reached US$2 billion. Meanwhile, Amana Takaful’s gold investment fund, the only Islamic one in Sri Lanka, has continued to record double-digit growth, lending optimism to hopes of having other fund managers enter the commodity fund sector.
Meanwhile, one of the largest managers of Islamic funds in Africa told us that it is Sukuk, not equities, that is holding back South Africa’s potential six-fold Islamic investment growth – how can the country remedy this inertia? The answer, one of several, may lie in offering the public a Shariah equivalent of a popular conventional investment vehicle in a bid to boost market awareness of Islamic investment products.
The Islamic investment community, particularly in the Middle East, may have taken a pause to celebrate Eid last week, however, Malaysian players continued the news cycle with revelation that Islamic bank MBSB-owned asset management firm – MIDF Amanah Asset Management – is up for sale, with its CEO leading a management buyout bid for it. This is not the first time the firm is looking for buyers.
Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) continues to anchor itself as a sophisticated Islamic investment hub – it has revised its Equity Guidelines for the first time since 2009, tightening entry standards on the MAIN market will reinforcing discipline on the feeder ACE Market. SC Chairman Mohammad Faiz Azmi said this move is to enhance listing quality and provide a “structured progression pathway” for companies to scale from emerging company to blue-chip candidate. In a market where listed companies are overwhelmingly eligible to be included in Shariah compliant investment portfolios, this reinforces the case for stronger equity allocation.
