India has an increasing number of Islamic mutual funds, most recently joined by Benchmark AMC, a fund house that specialises in index-based investing, has recently closed subscriptions for a Shariah-based fund. A similar offering from Taurus Mutual Fund, Taurus Ethical Fund, is currently open for subscription. The Taurus Mutual Fund notices that about 50 % applicants subscribers are non Muslims.
The Islamic funds have since inception outperformed the broader indexes. Nevertheless in current market conditions it is difficult to sell an equity scheme. Benchmark AMC is said to have placed somewhere between Rs 1-1.5 crore.