The IFN Investor Funds Database, the leading intelligence platform on Islamic public fund offerings, recorded 2,743 funds managed by 517 asset management firms, with a combined total AuM of US$444.89 billion as at the 22nd June 2026.
It has been a choppy ride this past week with the US-Iran peace deal hanging by a thread. The first round of negotiations has concluded, with mediators calling the progress toward a final deal “encouraging.” But the US-Iran peace negotiations are anything but reassuring – despite an earlier agreement toward ceasing the war within 60 days and the reopening of the Straits of Hormuz, fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in Lebanon escalated and Hormuz remains closed.
The financial markets have delivered a complex set of responses. Crude prices are on a roller coaster ride initially dropping at the hope of an imminent ceasefire only to reverse course as cracks in negotiations emerged. As at the time of writing, oil prices have eased again. The US dollar has strengthened while treasury yields spiked. Shariah-sensitive Gulf benchmarks generally responded positively.
Amid the turmoil, Iranian money managers are banking on the resilience of metals as a crisis hedge – at least four launched Islamic metals-backed ETFs while a handful continued to expand their portfolios across different asset classes including the Iranian Isfahan municipality which unveiled its first fixed income investment fund. One of the Republic’s oldest investment management companies, Firouzeh Financial Group, which rolled out a new fund recently, also went public.
Meanwhile, out of the US, we welcomed the launch of the country’s first trade association to support Islamic finance practitioners – the Islamic Finance Trade Association of North America (IFTANA) – at the IFN Investor Americas Forum 2026. Founded by the industry veterans, IFTANA represents a long-awaited much-needed development, and the group, as we learned in a conversation with a founding member, has a healthy pipeline of initiatives including the launch of new Shariah compliant investment and savings products over the next year.
On that note of healthy pipelines, the IsDB Group concluded its week-long annual meetings in Baku, culminating in billions of dollars’ worth of agreements for a host of projects including in energy security, climate resilience and infrastructure. Such investments into the development agenda of member countries are a boost to the utilization of Shariah financial instruments and nation building. The slew of initiatives and deals includes the Turkic Investment Fund operationalizing a program to deploy Shariah capital into the private sector of member countries, a proposal for a Sukuk enhancement fund and a commitment to develop a hedging solution to expand local currency transactions in emerging and frontier markets.
Saudi Arabia continues to anchor its position as a global Islamic asset management leader, widening its pool of operators with Brookfield Arabia for Business Services and Neuberger Berman Saudi Investment Company securing licenses from the Capital Market Authority to conduct fund and investment management activities while Arch Capital made the strategic decision to maintain the Shariah integrity of investment funds.
Pakistan is on a similar trajectory: Lucky Investments widened its Islamic fund distribution network by partnering with DIB Pakistan while BankIslami Pakistan and Al-Hilal Shariah Advisors have agreed to enhance Shariah compliant equity screening and data analytics for listed equities. The regulator greenlit JS Investments’ choice of board director while Burj Clean Energy Modaraba confirms a replacement on its board following the resignation of Nabeel Anjum Malik.
Finally, MNRB Holdings is making a bid to acquire an 80% equity stake in Labuan Reinsurance for about US$100 million in cash, which could spell an interesting future of institutional Shariah investments in Malaysia, where Islamic funds have posted steady growth in Q1. Across the straits, Singaporean Islamic funds have not fared as well with AuM contracting nearly 8% on a quarterly basis, although year-on-year, they have grown by over 30%.
