Local demand for Shariah-compliant funds rising, says QInvest

Private investment group QInvest announced yesterday that the market is witnessing a surge in demand for Shariah-compliant funds, an official said. Conventional investors also expressed interest in a range of Shariah-compliant products and investments, said QInvest head of Asset Management Dr Ataf Ahmed, during the ACQ5 Global Awards 2017 ceremony, where QInvest was recognised as Qatar’s ‘Asset Management Advisory Firm of the Year’.Ahmed said: “In response to the growing investor demand for more innovative, income-generating, Shariah-compliant products, QInvest successfully launched SQN Income Fund, in collaboration with SQN Capital Management earlier this year. “Offering investors a unique opportunity to access income-generating assets in developed markets, the fund was oversubscribed and aims to pay out a net yield of 7% per annum on a monthly basis and has a targeted IRR of between 8% and 9%, with a tenure of 5 years.”He added: “We credit our Asset Management team with earning this recognition through their hard work, innovative thinking, and entrepreneurial spirit. QInvest has endeavoured to leverage its global network and relationships to develop world-class offerings that can adequately address investors’ increasing appetite for diversified portfolios.”Nasser al-Mahmoud, head of Client Coverage and Distribution, said: “We are also seeing increased appetite for Shariah-compliant products and investments from non-Muslim investors, who can be broadly broken down into two groups. The first group is identified as investors attracted to the ethical and social characteristics of the assets that Shariah funds invest in, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. “The second group comprise of investors who look to Shariah-compliant funds to diversify their portfolios away from certain assets that are prominent in conventional funds and are seen as being more susceptible to economic volatility. The important thing to remember is that a well-managed Shariah-compliant fund can perform just as well and even outperform a conventional counterpart.”Jake Robson, group editor at ACQ5, said: “The 2017 ACQ5 Global Award winners represent the best of breed in all industry sectors and have earned these honours by standing out in a group of very impressive finalists. We are lucky enough to work with some of the most influential and enterprising private organisations in the world and are proud to share their message with our readers.”The 12th Annual ACQ5 Global Awards honoured the leading deal teams, firms and professionals whose activities set the standard for the financial markets. This year, companies and individuals, representing every major market in the world, became finalists for the awards.QInvest has a strong track record in managing Shariah-compliant funds via its QInvest Managed Account Platform (QMAP), the world’s first open architecture Shariah-compliant managed account platform. It brings best practice from the conventional fund industry to investors through a range of global partnerships with managers around the world.