IslamicFinance.de

Shariah-compliant pension funds are entering the wealth and asset management segment worldwide. One example for a state-backed Shariah-compliant pension fund is the Islamic savings scheme option introduced in Malaysia. Here $25bn of the fund’s entire assets of $160bn have been dedicated to the new Shariah-compliant investment line. According to Moody’s global head of Islamic finance, Khalid Howladar, Shariah-compliant investments now represent 15% of the fund’s entire investment, which makes it the largest standalone Islamic pension fund globally. Another country where Islamic pension funds are in growing demand is Pakistan. A number of banks, financial service providers and fund managers offer private or voluntary state-supported retirement savings schemes whose investments are made strictly in Shariah-compliant instruments. In the Western World, the UK and Australia were the first to offer Islamic pension schemes. In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Islamic pension funds are yet comparably small, particularly state-backed ones.