Oil plunge knocks wind out of shariah compliant funds

GulfNews ^ | January 31, 2016

[wtd]

• Oil plunge knocks wind out of shariah compliant funds

  Sales of the products fell more than 75% last year compared with 2014

  London: The fall in the oil price has claimed another victim. Sharia-compliant funds have suffered their worst sales in four years as the price of oil plummets and tensions in the Middle East spook investors.

  Sales of the products fell more than 75 per cent last year compared with 2014. The slowdown is a big setback for the fledgling $60 billion (Dh220.38 billion) Islamic fund industry, which only began finding its feet in recent years, and raises questions about the products’ prospects.

  “The money is not flowing into Islamic fund managers,” says Mustafa Adil, head of Islamic finance at Thomson Reuters, the data provider. “People are not as bullish as they were in previous years. And that will have an impact on growth.”

  As recently as 2013, the Islamic fund industry was growing at a rate of 10 per cent a year.

[winner3000]

What a shame! Muslims lost lots of money! Oh darn!

[American in Israel]

How does a Sharia Compliant loan company make money, as they claim they do not charge interest? Oh wait, its Muslim, they lie, nevermind...

[Secret Agent Man]

Thank you Jesus.

[cableguymn]

I’m almost bothered by my give a damn being broken on this issue.

[wtd]

Yet here are today's reports (24 hours later):

• Al-Ameen Funds’ assets under management surged by 530% Investors may draw comfort from the fact that Al-Ameen Funds falling under the realm of Shariah-compliant fixed income funds are generally superior to conventional fixed income funds because the underlying debt instruments are structurally less risky than ... The Frontier Post · 34 minutes ago

• Experts see prosper prospect of Islamic Finance The Islamic Banks, however, tried to justify that reduction of poverty is not just a function of Islamic banks. Islamic banks ensure Shariah compliance of their transactions and earning competitive but halal profit should be the banks’ objective else ... The Frontier Post · 34 minutes ago

• Bursa Malaysia ends sharply lower weighed by losses in O&G stocks On the scoreboard, the FBM Emas Index fell 116.68 points to 11,382.39, FBMT100 Index eased 121.54 points to 11,085.51 and the FBM Emas Shariah Index erased 118.9 points to 12,205.84. The FBM 70 decreased 91.87 points to 12,752.45 while the … theSundaily · 10 hours ago

• Mutual Funds: Performance in January According to data compiled by MUFAP, the only fund not producing a loss in January was JS Value Fund. Among Shariah compliant equity funds (averaging a 1.61 percent loss), JS Islamic Fund was the top performer with 0.56 percent return. Going forward ... Business Recorder · 22 hours ago

• Islamic finance making further inroads into non-traditional markets As a result, Japan’s largest bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, is now preparing to offer Shariah-compliant banking products such as deposits, loans and trade finance solutions at its Dubai branch after it received a … Pakistan Observer · 1/29/2016

• Questioning the economic value of current Islamic banks While structures of these products fulfill basic Shariah requirements, they are not novel in their economic profiles. Islamic banking faces cynicism from those who expect it to be different from conventional banking not … The Express Tribune · 1/25/2016