A flurry of deals dotted the Islamic investments landscape over the past week as the IFN Investor Funds Database continued its growth to reach the 450 funds mark, tracking global Shariah compliant assets under management valued in total at US$408.5 billion and rising.
Qatar Development Bank became a shareholder in Shariah compliant fintech Wahed. Gulf Investment House unit, Bait Al-Amar Al-Khaleeji, is buying a majority stake in The Energy House Holding Company while Kuwait Finance House is reducing its stake in the latter to less than 30%.
Alinma Investment is acquiring an office property in Riyadh’s Al Qirawan district. Saudi real estate developer Rikaz partnered SEDCO Capital and Mashaal Abdullah Al Rajhi Group to establish a real estate investment fund and develop a project in Riyadh’s hospitality sector.
Maldives is reportedly working on a debt-for-nature swap with The Nature Conservancy.
Fresh equity offerings saw Oman’s OQ Base Industries launch its Shariah IPO while Talabat Holding’s IPO will see it listed on the Dubai Financial Market.
KISI Asset Management, a subsidiary of Korea Investment Securities Indonesia, unveiled the KISI Global Sharia Transformative Technology Equity Fund. EFG Hermes’ private equity arm launched a US$300 million Saudi Education Fund to build an institutional K-12 operator in Saudi Arabia.
The Dubai Financial Market and Al Maryah Community Bank introduced an upgrade to provide investors with additional leverage when subscribing to selected IPOs. Al Salam Bank introduced its new ‘Workspaces’ digital platform to support single person companies, family offices and MSMEs.
Aviva launched a new Shariah lifestyle investment strategy for its pension offerings and UAE Islamic investment platform Taqwa Invest partnered with Enlightened Minds Investments.
Indonesia’s URUN-RI enabled foreign retail investment on its Shariah securities platform. UOB Asset Management is offering access to its unit trust funds with the launch of BoostMyMoney. Webull Malaysia is allowing inward deposits from Islamic bank accounts. Shariah compliant platform inshAllah launched Ethereum staking service Goldsand.
Regulations-wise, GCC financial market authorities approved the fund passporting framework, which will be implemented in early 2025. The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) issued draft regulations related to opening of investment accounts for various categories of investors.
The AAOIFI agreed on the approach and content of the comprehensive framework for an audit of financial statements of an Islamic institution. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan tightened Shariah compliance rules for modaraba companies.
Other developments included the Saudi CMA approve the offerings of Yaqeen Opportunistic Fund and the Riyad Monthly Distributions Multi Asset Fund. Meanwhile, Zulhilmy Kamaruddin became CEO at Damansara REIT Managers.
