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The number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) in the UAE dropped almost 20 percent last year. The growth levels in the Middle East were the lowest of all the regions surveyed in the report and Amir Sadr, head of Middle East Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, said this was evidence that the region had underperformed in 2009. A new study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that millionaire households owned more than half of the wealth in the Middle East and Africa region in 2009.

Press Release

European Finance House Offshore Sharia Fund Assigned 'AAf/S1+' Fund Credit Quality
And Volatility Ratings

LONDON, May 4, 2010--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned
its 'AAf' fund credit quality and its 'S1+' fund volatility ratings to EFH Funds SCA
SICAV-SIF - Liquidity Subfund (the "subfund"), a Luxembourg-domiciled U.S
dollar-denominated liquidity fund, managed by European Finance House (EFH). This is
the first Standard & Poor's fund credit quality and fund volatility rating assigned
to an offshore Islamic fund.

Fund credit quality ratings generally reflect our assessment of the level of
protection against losses from credit defaults and are based on an analysis of the
credit quality of the portfolio investments and the likelihood of counterparty
defaults.

Fund volatility ratings generally reflect Standard & Poor's view of the fund's
sensitivity to interest rate movements, credit risk, investment diversification or
concentration, liquidity, leverage, and other factors.

The ratings reflect Standard & Poor's analysis of the subfund's credit quality and

Press Release

Islamic Investors' Risk Tolerance Will Determine Demand For Sharia Fund Ratings,
Report Says

LONDON, May 4, 2010--The economic boom in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region
has fueled the emergence of Islamic finance in the international market in the past
decade. Revenue growth in this region has particularly benefited the asset
management sector, as Standard & Poor's noted in a report published today (see "Using Fund Ratings To Assess Credit And Market Risks In Sharia Funds").

The Middle East is by far the largest market for Sharia-compliant funds, but
conventional players in Europe, South Africa, and the U.S. have also launched a
number of funds that comply with Sharia law during past years, enhancing their
product range to meet the specific requirements of Islamic investors seeking to
invest in this asset class.

The number of product types remains limited, which Standard & Poor's Ratings
Services believes is largely due to the nascent nature of Sharia funds. Funds also
have to be invested in ways that are permitted under Islamic law. Sharia funds,
unlike traditional bond funds, do not invest in conventional rated fixed-income

Islamic banks are failing to cater for clients' wealth management and estate planning needs, pushing them to rely largely on traditional asset managers, said a report published by Bank Sarasin (BSAN.S) this week.

Bank Sarasin-Alpen (ME) Limited, a subsidiary of Bank Sarasin & Co. Ltd, a leading Swiss private bank announced today the publication of its Islamic Wealth Management Report 2010. The report provides investors with an in-depth overview of the various asset classes in Islamic wealth management along with a synopsis of the market scenario during the past 18 months.

Press Release

The report provides investors with an in-depth overview of the various asset classes in Islamic wealth management along with a synopsis of the market scenario during the past 18 months. The report also explores the concept of estate and succession planning, which Sarasin believes is insufficiently addressed in the Islamic finance industry and is a key element of Sarasin’s Islamic wealth management offering. Finally, the report provides an insight into the bank’s economic outlook for 2010.

The key issues and challenges addressed in the report are:

• how Sharia screening reduced the downside in volatile markets and how it affects the finance industry and investors,
• the behaviour of direct real estate investments in comparison with real estate funds and Sharia-compliant real estate investment trusts,
• the income-related role of Sukuk within Islamic balanced portfolios and the probability of defaults,
• a comparison between various Islamic investment funds ranging from income-oriented to commodity, real estate and equity funds,
• the size and future of the Islamic private equity and venture capital industry,
  

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Press Release

San Francisco, USA-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb., 15th, 2010 – Khalijia Invest, a leading global Shari’ah compliant investment firm chaired by HH Prince Sultan Bin Mohammad bin Saud Al Kabeer and regulated by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) today announced that it has selected IdealRatings Inc., a global Shari’ah compliant fund management service provider to take full advantage of IdealRatings’ universe screening and Shari’ah compliant fund management service.

Khalijia Invest needed a robust, fully integrated Shari’ah compliant fund management service to streamline it Shari’ah funds investment process and analysis, and turned to IdealRatings for its integrated Shari’ah funds service capabilities.

IdealRatings enable portfolio managers to maximize Alpha through a detailed Shari’ah compliant universe research for more than 40,000+ equities in 100+ countries, which results in more than 12,000 + compliant equities. Dhafer Salih Alqahtani, EVP & Deputy CEO of Khalijia Invest asserted that “IdealRatings increase our efficiency and empower our portfolio managers to concentrate on generating more Alpha for our Investors”

Palisades Park Capital started a multi-strategy hedge fund in November. Justin Doff and Omar Haroon manage the fund. The fund is a computer-based long-short equity strategy.

Update 12.2.2010: Palisades Park Capital informed IslamicFinance.de that the vehicle has been closed and new subscriptions can no longer be done.

The International Islamic Relief Organisation-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) is to launch six endowment (waqf) projects in Makkah at a cost of over SR470 million, with annual returns of about SR45 million that will be used to finance the organisation’s relief and development projects.

Mark Mobius, who oversees $33 billion in emerging-market securities as chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd., said he’s looking into setting up a Malaysia-based stock fund that’s compliant with Islamic law.

IslamicFinance.de is calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the UNEP Finance Inititiave to learn and contribute to international best practice in ethical and faith based finance:

"UNEP FI is a global partnership between UNEP and the financial sector. Over 180 institutions, including banks, insurers and fund managers, work with UNEP to understand the impacts of environmental and social considerations on financial performance."

membership information package:
http://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/forms/MembershipInformationPack.pdf

Geneva-based Faisal Private Bank announced it had appointed Swiss national Mark Koch to replace outgoing Chief Executive Marco Rochat from Jan. 1 with a mandate to broaden the Islamic finance focus of the bank.

CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd today launched it's CIMB Islamic Global Commodities Equity Fund, with a fund size of 600 million units, to tap into the tremendous growth opportunities in the commodities sector.

Geneva-based Faisal Private Bank has warned it could face foreclosure on parts of its real estate portfolio unless investors stump up cash to keep lenders at bay, documents seen by Reuters show.

Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced today the launch of Wajaha, a distinguished wealth management service for ultra high net worth individuals. Tailored to meet the distinct needs of the ultra high net worth clients, Wajaha is an invitation-only service that offers unparalleled advantages, from unique financial products to personal relationship managers, offered within a private setting in exclusive Wajaha Centres in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

The Financial Times produced a special looking into the Future of Islamic Finance.

The download is free of charge.

Yasaar media published a new report called Islamic Finance in North America 2009 for free download, which is co-published by Codexa Capital, UM Financial Group, King & Spalding, and Doha Islamic.

According to the report Islamic finance in North America has developed along two quite separate paths:

• The first path focuses on retail Islamic finance and centres mostly on home financing products and credit cards.

• The second path involves a number of high profile GCC-based Islamic investment banks and their deployment of hundreds of millions of dollars in private equity and real estate developments in North America.

Read the full report for free at the link below.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) plans to launch the Middle East’s first exchange-traded fund to try to attract more international investors. The fund, known as an ETF, will be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) in two months, a senior NBAD official said. It will be licensed by a leading global index provider and will track some of the Gulf’s 50 biggest stocks, said Giyas Gokkent, NBAD’s co-head of asset management and chief economist.