Islamic / Sharia Funds
There has been a recent surge in demand for Shariah compliant investment instruments including institutional funds. According to a recent survey there is growing demand from investors domiciled in the Gulf Co-operative Council region for investment portfolios to include Shariah compliant instruments.
This outlook has spurred the growth of the Shariah compliant investment funds that invest in a wide range of sectors - real estate, private equity, infrastructure (most notably power projects) and equities. Some of these funds have been admitted to trading on the more established stock exchanges, such as Dublin as well as the emerging stock exchanges of Dubai and Bahrain.
It is estimated that there are currently more than 100 Shariah compliant investment funds with over US$5billion under their management.