Australian Islamic wealth manager, Crescent
Wealth (established in 2010), announced in a press release last week that
it has partnered with the Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME), a
large European Islamic Bank, giving Australian retail investors exposure to the
growing US$150 billion global Islamic bonds market for the first time.
Sharia’a-compliant bonds or ‘Sukuk’ generate
ethical returns backed by real assets. The release said that the portfolio will
be managed by BLME which is a global provider of Sharia’a-compliant, fixed
income products. Crescent Wealth founder and Managing Director, Talal Yassine
said that the partnership is significant because it is evidence that,
“Australia is being taken seriously as a viable growth market for Islamic funds
management.”
He added that the partnership “rounds out”
Crescent Wealth’s product suite with a fixed income option added to their
existing Australian and global equities, property and cash offerings; and that
it also opens the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market to Australian
investors.
Nigel Denison, the Head of Wealth Management at
BLME, said that BLME has seen increased demand from international investors for
Sukuk bonds which have “good credit performance” and have been “resilient
to the global economic downturn.”
Islamic banking is one of the fastest growing
financial sectors today with global Islamic banking assets exceeding US$1
trillion, and growth estimates upwards of US$2 trillion projected by 2017.
Sukuk bonds have exceeded pre-financial crisis levels and are expected to grow
exponentially over the coming years.
Yassine, said that his firm was “tapping the
significant potential” for Islamic funds in Australia, which is expected to
grow by as much as $22 billion(AUD) by 2020. He added that the number of
Australians who “identify as Muslim” has grown “by 40% since 2006, up to 487,000
in 2011″, and explained that the Muslim population represents “a natural
investor base” for Islamic financial products which along with the “genuine
appetite in the broader community for a low risk, low-leverage investment
profile” made Crescent Wealth a “compelling proposition”.
(Muslim Village.Com / 20 Oct 2012)
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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com
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