Posted on 12/14/2006 10:29:00 AM PST by Choose Ye This Day
New Mutual Funds Observe Islamic Law
Deutsche Bank introduces Shari`a-compliant funds
Deutsche Bank has launched five mutual funds that comply with traditional Islamic law, or Shari’a, in response to what it said was a growing demand for Islamic investment products. Marketed as DWS Noor Islamic Funds, Deutsche Bank says they are the first to be Shari`a compliant and excludes investments in alcohol, gambling, or companies with large amounts of debt. "With DWS Noor Islamic Funds, our Islamic clients can rely on a strictly Shari`a-compliant framework while benefiting from attractive international investment opportunities usually only available as conventional mutual fund products," Scott Jaffray, DWS’s chief investment officer for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
Additionally, the funds are specialized due to the use of Dar Al Istithmar, a Shari`a advisory service created through a joint venture between Deutsche Bank, the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and investment advisor Russell Wood, and whose Shari`a Board consists of five of the world's leading Shari`a scholars. The DWS Noor Islamic Funds will be offered now to investors in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, with plans to make them available in other countries in the region, Asia, and Europe next year.
When I worked for an investment management firm, we used to joke about wanting to set up the Couch Potato Fund.
It would invest in Playboy, cable TV, online gambling, booze, publicly traded strip clubs, and tobacco.
There probably aren't any that are defined quite like that. I'd be a hoot though. Probably very popular too.
Wanna guess what the non-smoker's stock of choice used to be?
gotta love it!
Keeping with Muslim traditions, I'm sure the fund will not invest in "Jewish" companies either.
There are several "socially responsible" funds, as they call themselves. Calvert, IIRC, is one of the biggest promoters.
The Ave Maria funds are similar in that they only invest in companies whose values jive with Catholic norms.
Gee, maybe they would be interested in my new invention, based partly upon meat packers' auto-knives, and the Veg-A-Matic, which I believe could speed up genital mutilations by 350%, while reducing cost/mutilation by 25-30%, based upon increased efficiency.
Of course, it only works on male members so far.
I tentatively call it the Lorena Imamutilator, Mark I.
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