Intervie gifw
social responsibility (CSR) has been a very successful concept over the last few years and we have today funds managing billions in Europe. Islamic finance is part of this CSR trend and we can see that customers re- spond positively to the message of investing more “responsibly”.
However, to be as successful as it is in Mus- lim countries, Islamic asset managers in Europe will have to invest considerable time and money to be as competitive as conven- tional players in order to attract non-Muslim investors, as being Shariah-compliant does not give you a differentiation hedge, as is the case in Muslim countries.
Assets of the global Islamic finance in- dustry are estimated to grow to around US$1.6 trillion by 2012. Do you agree with this statement and why? I have seen different numbers ranging from 1 trillion to 2 trillion, and I think we need to be careful what this number really rep- resents and how these numbers are calcu- lated. You have in the Islamic finance sector several sub sectors or regional dynamics that paint different pictures. For example, in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Takaful business is booming, whereas the retail business is still maturing.
What challenges does Qatar Islamic Bank face when catering to both Islamic and non-Islamic clients? We do not build our strategy by segregating Islamic and non-Islamic finance. We struc-
ture products that need to be competitive and answer clients’ needs.
What are your thoughts on the future prod- uct innovation, investor developments and sales within Qatar Islamic Bank? In term of products, our target is to offer a one stop shop for investors with the full range of products. On the investor side, our focus has been primarily institutional clients, especially Takaful and ReTakaful operators. In 2012 we will continue to serve institution- al investors but we were also looking at the opportunity to target HNWI via our Wealth Management Platform.
What are the benefits of the mutual fund platform? The mutual fund platform is allowing inves- tors to invest in different asset classes and countries via a vehicle offering a simple and cost-effective structure.
What advice would you give to those want- ing to invest in the asset management sec- tor? The asset management sector is a long-term business and that is one of the main rea- sons why it was neglected by the Islamic fi- nance industry initially. Indeed, it takes time to gain investors’ trust and build up a strong track record. Unfortunately, we can see a lot of new asset managers coming into the mar- ket with an insufficient amount of seed capi- tal and close after a year or two. Indeed, in 2010, more Shariah-compliant funds were closed than created.
gif 2012 April Global Islamic Finance 39
I think that Sukuk are the most successful
Islamic finance prod- uct. Generally speak- ing, Sukuk have been increasingly popular with investors. I am not surprised that issuance of Islamic bonds have more than doubled in the first half of 2011
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