Switzerland

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IslamicFinance.de aims to raise USD 2'500 for quarterly running costs

Dear Reader,

IslamicFinance.de is privately funded for many years. Now, for the first time, you have the possibility to make a contribution, from one Dollar upwards!

The technical details, and the money transfer via paypal is organised by Kapipal a new online fundraising tool:

http://www.kapipal.com/islamicfinance

On the blog I gave some more thoughts about Islamic finance media for those interested: http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3454

Please also note: The fundraising action has a deadline, so act today, not tomorrow and tell your friends about it!

All donors who will leave a message will be listed in the article, which follows after closure of the fundraising period.

I am happy to meet you in person either on 19th March in Milano (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/3396) or on 10th May in Frankfurt (http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=BAFINII) at the respective Islamic finance conference.

Wa at Taufiq min Allah, all the best,

Michael Saleh Gassner

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Islamic finance media - a challenge, and what one could do

Dear Readers,

Islamic finance media are a tricky service. This is true for various reasons: The Internet eats up the revenues, because everything ought to be free. Islamic banks are still a niche phenomena, and international banks like UBS or Deutsche are almost as large as the entire global Islamic finance industry. Consequently the marketing budgets are much lower, too.

Last not least, who should advertise? The banks among themselves or to the clients? Advertising from bank to bank, does usually not make much sense, but real client oriented formats are hard to find, too. May be this is a niche. Others, who could finance Islamic finance media are basically the service providers to the banks, but due to the limited number of Islamic financial insitutions, direct marketing, e.g. face to face meetings will be preferred.

This in short is the background why Islamic finance media are not so well established in terms of journalism and research, but mostly reflecting the press release as criticised by the makers of the Islamic Globe. See: http://www.theislamicglobe.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article...

Report for free download: Sarasin releases Islamic Wealth Management Report 2012

In its 2012 Islamic Wealth Management Report illustrated by masterpieces of Islamic calligraphy, by the Chinese Muslim master Hajji Noordeen, deals with the theme “The path to corporate transformation – converting a company to Islam”.

Bank Sarasin reviews the complexities of converting a business to Islam, a topic which is rarely discussed or written about. Conversion is complicated by the need to address every aspect of a business, the lack of broadly accepted standards and regulations, and differences in the Muslim world itself. The Report, released today, is the Bank’s third on Islamic Wealth Management.

Converting a business to Islam can increase the value of a company by 18-25% due to the scarcity of genuine Islamic investments. But the conversion process is arduous, extending from the design to distribution and beyond, to how the company spends its profits. As Sarasin notes, the market potential is massive, with the global Muslim population expected to increase by 26% to 2030, to 2.2 billion, rivalling China and India in terms of market size.

Malaysian global asset manager establishes first-in-class fund platform in Ireland

Ireland has conducted its first Malaysian-managed fund platform. The Central Bank of Ireland has approved the establishment of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management (Ireland) Public Limited: a joint venture between Kuala Lumpur headquartered CIMB Group and Principal Global Investors.
The newly created joint venture will uphold a range of international Islamic funds on the platform from its Dublin domicile. Three equity UCITS are being registered: Islamic Global Emerging Markets Fund; Islamic Asia-Pacific ex-Japan Fund, and Islamic ASEAN Equity Fund.
Once registered the funds will be spread in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Singapore.

'Islamic Bank of Switzerland' to be founded in Zurich

According to sources of the monthly magazin Bilan, a French language business monthly, the 'Islamic Bank of Switzerland' is seeking a license to operate out of Zurich, Switzerland. Investors are supposed to be from Qatar.

Sarasin-Alpen to offer Islamic advisory services

Sarasin-Alpen LLC, Oman, is a subsidiary of the private bank, Bank Sarasin & Co Ltd, Switzerland. Capital Market Authority approved that the bank markets Islamic securities, products and services to its clientele, along with its existing advisory services in private banking.
Sarasin-Alpen also influences the existing Investment Banking business of its associate, Alpen Capital LLC (Oman). Sarasin Alpen Group also has offices in Bahrain, India, Qatar and UAE.

Islamic Finance and Business Day 2011, Zurich, Switzerland, 19.5.2011

“Islamic finance has weathered the storm. One of the world’s fastest growing asset classes before the financial crisis hit in August 2007 continues to expand”.

This headline in the Financial Times on 13 December 2010 emphasizes the growing significance of Islamic finance.

The School of Management and Law and its Center for International Business

welcome you to the annual

ISLAMIC FINANCE AND BUSINESS DAY 2011

19.05.2011

At:

Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW

Building SM

Room: SM O1.01

Theaterstrasse 15c

8400 Winterthur

Bank Sarasin urges a stronger focus on Islamic Financial Planning

The key challenges and opportunities addressed in the Islamic Wealth Management Report are:

•Managing the Islamic wealth cycle through the entire process of wealth acquisition, preservation and distribution and achieving the required balance between spiritual and worldly obligations.
•Understanding the primary issues facing Waqf donors despite the strong growth drivers in this market: poor performance is due in part to the shortage of professionals leading to low quality asset management and lack of transparency.
•Considering the suitability of the Swiss private banking family office structure as a wealth management tool to ensure effective Islamic governance.
•Addressing the challenges facing Islamic mutual funds to achieve growth and performance.
•Recommending standardisation, education and diversification of Sukuk in order to increase the supply of products and the liquidity of the market.
•Analysing Islamic equity and indices performance over the last year to illustrate that diversification remains key for investment without compromising Islamic principles.

Islamic Wealth Management Report published by Bank Sarasin

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,

World Economic Forum: Values For The Post Crisis Economy

"The current economic crisis should warn us to fundamentally rethink the development of the moral framework
and the regulatory mechanisms that underpin our economy, politics and global interconnectedness. It would be a wasted opportunity for all of us if we pretended that the crisis was simply a momentary hurdle. If we want to keep society together, then a sense of community and solidarity are more important now than ever before.The most fundamental question today is whether we can adopt a more communitarian spirit or whether we will fall back into old habits and excesses, thereby further undermining social peace.

This Report, Faith and the Global Agenda:Values for the Post-Crisis Economy, produced by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Georgetown University, is the first effort of its kind, seeking to enhance understanding of the values that will be vital for our collective future and the positive role that faith plays in articulating those values."

Download at:

https://www.weforum.org/pdf/faith/valuesreport.pdf

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Calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the United Nations Finance Initiative

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

Faisal Private Bank appoints new CEO

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.

Faisal bank seeks extra client cash-sources

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.

Gatehouse and SAM launching Water Fund

Gatehouse Bank launches with Sustainable Assets Management (SAM) an Islamic compliant mutual fund focussing on sustainability-oriented companies that offer technologies, products and services throughout the entire value chain of the water industry.

CEO Faisal Private Bank ask for harmonization of Sharia standards

Faisal Private Bank's Chief Executive, Marco Rochat, said the absence of a global set of harmonised rules on sharia compliance created an unlevel playing field, reported Martin de Sa'Pinto on Reuters. Faisal Private Bank adivses on nearly USD 500 mn.

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Sustainability, Islamic Finance and Managing Risk While Seizing Opportunities

I just published an article with the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes Newsletter, giving an overview about the lines of arguments regarding performance and ethical screens, be it Islamic or Sustainability and what empiricial findings have been published.

It is claimed by critics that the reduction of the universe through ethical screens shall reduce the performance, likewise corporate social responsiblity comes against a cost. Similar counterarguments have been raised regarding Islamic screening criteria.

Bank Sarasin published a study doing own research with partners and reviewing published empirical analyses in the literature. It shows that there is no negative impact on performance. My review of empirical analyses in regard to Islamic finance concluded the same and all publications let conclude that ethical screens add value by way of risk management. An example is the debt limitation of the Sharia tolerance criteria.

Ethical screens may therefore improve the investment decision process and more research shall determine, which factors add value to the portfolio and therefore form part of a professional process.

Islamic Finance: Opportunities in the Swiss Market - in German

Wachstumschancen für schweizer Finanzdienstleister in der Finanzkrise

Islamic Finance ist trotz oder gerade wegen der Finanzkrise der Wachstumsmarkt schlechtin. Schweizer Finanzdienstleister haben in den letzten zwei Jahren ihre Onshore-Präsenz in der arabischen Welt signifikant erhöht. Nun gilt es, bestehende Angebote intelligent um Schariah-konforme Produkte zu ergänzen und dadurch das stark gestiegene Bedürfnis vieler Muslime nach Islamischen Finanzprodukten zu adressieren. Schweizer Institute verfügen hier aufgrund ihrer guten Reputation in der Region über ausgezeichnete Voraussetzungen, mit "Swiss Islamic Banking" eine nennenswerte Position in diesem viel versprecenden Wachstumsmarkt einzunehmen.

19. März 2009 - Zürich, Metropol.

Shariah compliant green fund launched

Hedge Fund Review reported on 22 December about the Falcon Fund launched by Da Vinci Invest of Zurich, aiming to invest in the carbon markets and forestry.

The fund will actively trade the carbon markets on a short-term basis and invest in forestry for the long term. Da Vinci Invest expects this strategy provide consistent value growth, diversification and an environmental benefit. Rainforest Invest, Forest Finance and Miller Forest will source opportunities in Panama, Costa Rica and Paraguay.

Only land formerly used for agricultural will be planted. No rainforest will be cut to farm the plantations. The Da Vinci Green Falcon Fund will charge a 2% management fee and a 20% incentive fee.

Da Vinci Invest, incorporated in 2004 as a UK company, is based in Zug.

Zurich launches takaful venture

Switzerland-based Zurich Financial Services Group has established a joint Islamic insurance venture with Abu Dhabi National Takaful Company (ADNTC). The joint venture, called Zurich Takaful Company Limited, will be based in Dubai at Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) and will deal with family takaful businesses across the Middle East. It is 51% owned by Zurich and 49% owned by ADNTC. Zurich’s initial focus will be establishing its DIFC office as a regional hub, which will then act as a springboard for future growth in the region.

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