UAE bankers and asset managers announced partnerships with big US names like Goldman Sachs and State Street in the last week to widen Shariah offerings in the Emirates, amid roaring activity elsewhere that included a record fundraising in Pakistan for a mutual fund IPO.
Blockbuster partnerships
We learned that Singaporean quantitative investment firm Chicago Global is on the lookout for US$50 million in GCC funding to expand beyond the Shariah compliant fund it runs with Malaysia’s Kenanga.
UAE-based ASB Capital will be launching a new global equity Shariah compliant fund, which will be managed in partnership with US-headquartered State Street Global Advisors. The fund will provide family offices and institutional and individual investors with exposure to publicly listed companies across global equity markets.
UAE banking group Mashreq, which offers Islamic financial services, is going along with Wall Street behemoth, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, to provide discretionary services to its wealth management customers. Mashreq, with a footprint in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US, will be rolling out various discretionary-based investment products to its Emirates customers from April 2025.
Fintech race
Shariah compliant crypto products may be growing by the day but they are barely meeting demand from the world’s two billion Muslims, Dubai-based INPUT Communications, which tracks the blockchain sector, said in a report.
Fintech start-up Haball, which offers Shariah compliant financing to SMEs and multinationals, raised US$52 million in a pre-Series A funding round which will help the digital supply chain financier expand into the GCC.
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank launched its fractional Sukuk platform, laying claim to be the first bank globally allowing investors to participate from US$1,000 compared to the usual US$200,000 minimum – which made such instruments previously accessible only to institutional investors or high net-worth customers.
Investment and dealmaking
Lucky Investments has raised PKR50 billion (US$17.78 million) for its inaugural open-ended Shariah compliant money market fund launched on the 9th April 2025, calling it “the largest ever amount raised in an IPO of a mutual fund in Pakistan”.
In Southeast Asia, the push by governments for interconnected electricity grids and renewable energy is fueling substantial transitional and ESG investments, according to BNP Paribas. The Paris-headquartered asset manager sees both Shariah-compliant and conventional methods of financing having roles to play in supporting the region’s shift from fossil fuels to green energy.
In a wider span of the same region, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has surpassed its 2025 climate financing target, exceeding 60% in 2024, with Shariah compliant deals in the mix through IsDB collaboration. The multilateral bank told IFN Investor that it is still open to Islamic financing.
In Africa, Kenya’s SIB Najah is on a roll. The Islamic investment banking group plans to introduce three additional asset classes to its Shariah compliant Mansa-X Shariah Special Fund by Q2, with a view of adding more in the future. This comes on the heels of an announcement that it aims to launch its own by middle of 2025.Over in Australia, Melbourne-based Hejaz secured a EUR100 million (US$110.6 million) funding facility from a respected UAE private wealth group, with a further EUR300 million (US$331.8 million) committed,to expand its offerings for Shariah compliant financial solutions.UK-founded Mnaara launched the new investment cycle for its Mnaara Income Strategy private market offering, open till the 21st April 2025. This Shariah compliant offering involves financing of secured trades of commodities, mainly non-perishable natural resources.
Moves
Turkey’s Al Baraka Islamic Bank – Bahrain has appointed Yasser Al Saad as its chief for treasury and investment. Prior to this, Yasser served as the treasurer at the Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait.
IFN Funds Database Update
As of 14th April 2025, the IFN Investor Fund Database, which tracks Islamic funds across the world, recorded assets under management of US$462.8 billion for 2,527 public Islamic funds, managed by 478 fund management firms.
