IslamicFinance.de

According to estimates by EY’s Global Islamic Banking Center, the pent up global demand for Islamic pension funds is currently between $160 bn and $190 bn. At present, most of these funds are parked under conventional sovereign pension funds due to lack of investing options. Since greenfield operations would take too long to satiate market demand, a more practical approach is the partial transformation of existing pension funds to carve out Shari’a compliant tranches. The transformation will need to be carefully planned to choose the right business model and operational framework. The choice of business model will determine the governance structure, the complexity of financial reporting, tax implications, and go-to-market timeframes.