IslamicFinance.de

Amanie Advisors Australia Pte Ltd, which is part of the Malaysian Amanie Advisors Group, has proposed to raise multiple short-term sukuk to cover Australia’s manufacturing ecosystem as part of the strategy to win funds from the Gulf area. Amanie founder and group chairman Dr Mohd Daud Bakar said the structures used in Islamic finance transactions mirror very closely the types of funding that are currently in demand in Australia, particular with respect to real economic activity which include leasing, financing of mining activities and farming. Amanie's idea involves funding from the whole value chain of any business, for examples electricity production. This is a totally new way of approach in the Islamic finance industry, which seems to have been well accepted in Australia. The short-term sukuk will involve the banks in the value chain, reduce the dependency of farmers and producers from conventional or private funds though the risk is quite high but the third party acts as the underwriter.

Crescent Wealth has developed its own platform for its four investment options and has appointed Corporate Combined Superannuation (CCSL) as trustee. The Shariah-compliant funds - Australian equities, international equities, income fund and Australian infrastructure and property - were previously only available on the Association of Independently Owned Financial Planners Personal Choice Private e-wrap platform, after they were launched late last year. The company is also in talks with industry super funds to white-label the product as an ultra-ethical investment option. Although the product follows Islamic finance principles, the company expects the majority of its clients to be attracted to its ultra-ethical investing philosophy

Less than one per cent of investment products in Australia are Shariah compliant, suggesting huge opportunities for fund managers in this segment. The Muslim Community Co-operative Australia (MCCA) manages a Shariah compliant property income fund which has just surpassed $30 million in assets under management. MCCA chairman Dr. Akhtar Kalam said this growth shows strong support for IBF products within Australia. MCCA is also reported to be in advanced discussions with an unnamed Middle Eastern company with a view to setting up a $180 million mortgage fund, a $150 million property fund, a $180 million Sukuk fund and a $5 million asset-leasing fund. Kalam said that this deal could signal the start of an exciting growth story driven by overseas interest in investment in Australia.

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) is growing in Asia, but also interested in Australia. Its chief executive Mike Wilkins recommended Australia pull down tax barriers in order to encourage Islamic finance. The federal government is yet to respond to a subsequent Board of Taxation review. Indonesia is also a target market for IAG. In order to fund its takaful liabilities, IAG would need to invest the cash flows received from policyholders into sharia-compliant products such as sukuk. At present however, because sukuk is based on several transfers of assets into and out of an SPV, the cost of issuance os well above a conventional bond.

Melbourne has been named as the host of the 2014 ethical bank conference, organised by the Global Alliance of Banking on Values (GABV). The conference will be hosted by Australian owned bankmecu and will be attended by 22 of the world’s leading sustainable banks. bankmecu Managing Director Damien Walsh said that these annual meetings provide an opportunity to discuss the role and responsibilities of banks and how they can contribute to a more sustainable world and a social economy. The carbon neutral event will have the theme of leadership in banking and will be held in March 2014.

Talal Yassine, founder of Islamic investment fund Crescent Wealth, believes Australia's Muslim population offers growth potential for sharia-compliant financial products. Crescent Wealth's criteria exclude investing in banks or other financial stocks as well as companies that have investments in alcohol, gambling, pornography, arms or the production of pork. They also consider the companies' debt-to-asset ratio, receivables outstanding and levels of cash or liquid assets. Yassine believes Crescent Wealth will attract funds from the vast Muslim community in Malaysia, Indonesia and, potentially, China.

Trevor Rowe has been appointed to the advisory board of Islamic funds manager Crescent Wealth. Rowe is chairman of BrisConnections, executive chairman of Rothschild Australia and chairman of UGL, among other things. Crescent Wealth managing director Talal Yassine said Rowe had been ''appointed for his experience and ability to offer high-level insight and counsel on strategic opportunities''.

SGI-Mitabu, a venture between The Solar Guys International and Mitabu Australia will finance its entire Indonesian solar power project using sharia-compliant financing. The first 50 megawatt (MW) of the 250 MW solar power project will be financed through the issuance of a seven-year A$100 million ($104 million) sukuk in Labuan, Malaysia's offshore financial centre. This will be followed by two more tranches which will be structured as either sukuk or Islamic syndicated loans.

The marketing campaign of solar panel and heating installer The Solar Guys' first sukuk has been going on for a while. The Islamic bond, due in the first half of 2013, serves to fund a 250MW solar power plant in Indonesia. The Solar Guys and Mitabu have formed a joint venture called SGI-Mitabu. The joint venture aims to raise $500 million to build and finance the power plant.

A partnership deal between Australian Islamic wealth manager Crescent Wealth and Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME) was signed. The deal enables Australian retail investors to participate in the Islamic bonds market. The global market for Sukuk is estimated at $150bn. The partnership with BLME marks Australia as a viable growth market for Islamic funds management.

Read more on: http://www.investmenteurope.net/investment-europe/news/2215997/crescent-...

Australian investors are expected to involve in one of the most rapidly growing asset classes soon. A new tie-up between Australia's Islamic fund manager and Europe's largest Islamic bank is on the way. According to plan, the Crescent Islamic Cash Management Fund will allocate up to half of its assets to investment-grade sukuk at the beginning of 20113.

Read more on: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/manager-to-...

Australian fund manager Crescent Wealth intends the launch of the country’s first Islamic pension fund by December. According to its managing director, between 15 to 30 percent of it shall be allocated in property. The goal is to build the fund to between A$4 billion ($4.03 billion) and A$6 billion in five years. This accomplishment should be possible due to lack of available Shariah-compliant financial products in Australia.

One of the WSJ’s blogs (Deal Journal Australia) for November 20 called Islamic finance in Australia a ‘mirage’ on the basis that the Big Four banks are not presenting retail Islamic finance products to the Australian Muslim population (estimated to be around 350,000 people).
The article doesn't present the main point , which is that Australia has a vast amount to offer the world in terms of a wide palette of investment banking activities – fund management, Sukuk issuance, and Shari’ah compliant PPPs.

The Islamic Development Bank’s community development workshop has the purpose to empower Muslim NGOs in different parts of the world by offering them necessary training to boost their leadership skills.
Prominent leaders of Muslim organizations and institutions in 14 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, c and the Philippines who had come to the Kingdom to perform Haj this year, including professor Siddique Hassan, vice president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, will be included in the program.

The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) has chosen Dr. Ibrahim Abu Mohamed as the new grand mufti of Australiaon. Is seems that ANIC General Assembly Members and the Fatwa Committee members unanimously agreed to appoint Mohamed as the new Grand Mufti of Australia.

The process of opening Australia to Islamic investment was started by a Muslim wealth manager. The first Shariah compliant equity fund was launched in Australia. The fund is being advertised to local investors as a socially-responsible option.
The aim of Crescent Wealth is to appoint a raft of investment products, including superannuation, that will offer Australians access to the previously untapped $1.4 trillion Islamic investment market.

Bahraini group is helping universities begin courses in Sharia-compliant business practices to avoid a shortage of experts in the US$1 trillion (Dh3.67tn) market.
Khairul Nizam, the deputy secretary general of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions, stated that the industry will need 15 % more personnel over the next five years and 25 % more in a decade.
Countries like Nigeria, Thailand, Australia and France plan to present legislation to facilitate Islamic financing, moves that will increase demand for scholars to certify that the products meet requirements on no interest payments.

Australia announced its new annual budget this week, revealing rising prices. For Islamic finance it is important that Australia submits the final report that goes to the Board of Taxation. The Board will afterwards submit the report to the Treasurer. The aims is to help create 'a level playing field' for Islamic finance from a tax perspective.
Dr Ishaq Bhatti, director, Masters of Islamic Banking and Finance, La Trobe University, stated that the tax changes won't benefit the retail market. John Masters, director of ING Bank, as well as being one of the original architects of the government's approach to Islamic finance, agrees.

Axis Global Islamic REIT is in talks with potential cornerstone investors and will aim to raise around US$700m from a Malaysian IPO in the second quarter. The original plan was to include assets from Japan, Australia and Hong Kong., but this may change as a result of last week’s earthquake and tsunami. CIMB and Standard Chartered are joint global co-ordinators, with Credit Suisse and Maybank as joint bookrunners.

Qatar Charity is spearheading a campaign to collect funds to be donated to relief initiatives benefiting flood victims from Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The “Fight the Floods” campaign was launched offering the people in Qatar the opportunity to directly deposit to the authorised Qatar Charity "Fight the Floods" bank account: A/C Number: 100024470 at Qatar Islamic Bank.