Bahrain-based Islamic investment company, Gulf Finance House (GFH) has announced a plan to launch a sectoral Islamic fund which will act as a vehicle for regional pension and social insurance funds to invest in productive Shariah-compliant investment avenues with stable returns to investors.
Unveiling the plan to float the first-of-its kind Islamic fund pool at a press conference on the last day of the 'Eighth Annual Regional Pension and Social Insurance Conference – Planning for Reform, Sustainability and New Challenges,' in Abu Dhabi, organized jointly by the Muhanna Foundation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s General Pension and Social Security Authority (GPSSA), a senior GFH spokesperson said the proposed fund with a life in the range of eight to 15 years or more was being assessed.
"We are looking at a family of funds with a total size of five to $10 billion – in tranches of one billion dollars a year - which will be invested in a balanced Shariah-compliant portfolio of income generating asset classes with varying levels of risk," said Chief Executive Officer of GFH, Esam Janahi. "It is estimated that in the whole region there is about $250 billion worth of pension and social insurance funds. We plan to tap into this corpus of funds," said Janahi.
GFH will be the financial and investment advisor for the fund while i.e. Muhanna & co. will be the risk management consultants. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
