IslamicFinance.de

Rasmala Investment Bank Limited (RIBL) announced that assets under management in the Rasmala Trade Finance Fund have recently surpassed $100 million. The Fund specialises in providing short-term structured and/or asset-backed liquidity and has delivered 34 consecutive months of positive returns generating an annualised return of 4.5% for investors since inception. The Fund has seen interest from regional and international institutional investors as well as family offices, corporates, and high net worth investors. The Fund provides a regulated Shari'ah compliant investment vehicle to diversify international asset allocation. David Marshall, Head of Products at Rasmala, said the team worked hard on expanding the Fund’s asset base while matching inflows with investment opportunities. He promised to remain focused on tailoring products that offer clients real alternatives.

Last month, the dominant tone in Rasmala was one of "risk on" due to fluctuations in $ interest rates which had little bearing on Sukuk pricing in the region. The nervousness in the international market only led to a brief halt in the local market followed by soldiering on as soon as positive sentiment returned. The striving for yield continued at a quick pace. This is evident by the strong performance of some yielding names in the conventional space which were previously unloved but higher. An example of such yielding names is Dubai Holdings 14s and 17s which reached an increase of more than 2% and 3% respectively on the month.

Credit provisions and impairments bounced 75 percent to 235.8 million dirhams from the year-ago period.
Non-performing loans also evolved in the second quarter. The statement came from Raj Madha, MENA banking analyst at Rasmala Investment Bank, who calculated an adjusted NPL figure of 12.5 percent, accounting for 91-plus days of delinquency on a loan.
ADIB took a further 86.9 million dirhams in impairments against its real estate portfolio and added that it expects the real estate portfolio to post further losses in 2011.

Rasmala Investment Bank from Dubai appointed two new co-CEOs and has accepted the resignation of its CEO Tamer Bazzari.
The Board also appointed Anwar AbuSbaitan and David Woods as Co-CEOs.
A rationalisation plan was approved in order to bring costs down by 25 per cent and prepare Rasmala for a strong 2011.