Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) today announced a distribution relationship with DWS Investments – Deutsche Bank’s global mutual fund arm - to distribute products from the DWS Noor Islamic Fund range, which include the three innovative Islamic mutual funds: DWS Noor Precious Metals Securities Fund, DWS Noor Japan Equity Fund & DWS Noor Asia Pacific Equity Fund.
As the global mutual fund arm of Deutsche Bank Group, DWS is one of the top 10 largest mutual fund managers worldwide with more than Euro 248 billion of funds under management globally.
This strategic distribution relationship is the first for Dubai Islamic Bank – Wealth Management and represents the efforts to provide its customers with a diversified range of Islamic investment products. Each of the three investment products will have a minimum investment of US$ 10,000 per fund for individuals and US$25,000 per fund for institutions.
DWS Noor Precious Metals Securities Fund: will invest in companies engaged in activities related to gold, platinum, silver and other precious metals.
DWS Noor Japan Equity Fund: will invest in listed Japanese companies thereby providing access to Japan’s rising economic opportunities.
DWS Noor Asia Pacific Equity Fund: will provide access to the outstanding growth opportunities in Asia Pacific’s emerging economies.
The funds are strictly supervised by its Shari’a advisor, Dar Al Istithmar, whose Shari’a board comprises five of the world’s leading Shari’a scholars who continually monitor the entire investment and reporting process.
Saeed Al Qatami, Senior Vice President, Head of Wealth Management, DIB, said: "We are pleased to announce the distribution relationship with Deutsche Bank and the launch of three mutual funds. It is in line with our commitment to become a leading provider for investment solutions within Islamic Banking. We believe we have the brand equity, know-how, and a solid platform that includes the certification of our investment advisers. Liquidity is high in the region and every individual would like to diversify savings across a broad spectrum of investment opportunities.”
Naveed Ahmad, Head of Investments - Wealth Management, DIB, said: "DIB’s wealth management team’s endeavour is to provide exceptional value to investors. With the latest three products we have began the process of providing our customers with an `open architecture’ platform for investment products. We believe in providing our customers with the best investment products from around the world. We have initially chosen these three funds as they compliment our in-house offering of existing mutual funds – Al Islami GCC Equity Fund and the Al Islami Savings Scheme. ”
Scott Jaffray, Chief Investment Officer for DWS Investment in MENA and architect of the DWS Noor Islamic Funds range explained, “We have had a very positive response to the launch of our DWS Noor Islamic Funds in December 2006, and are delighted to attract distribution partners of the caliber of Dubai Islamic Bank.”
About Dubai Islamic Bank
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), established in 1975, is the first Islamic bank to have incorporated the principles of Islam in all its practices. DIB is a public joint stock company and its share is quoted on the Dubai Financial Market.
The bank reported AED 1.56 billion in net profit for the year ended December 31, 2006 rising by 47% compared to AED1.06 billion for the year ended December 31, 2005. The profit for 2006, including depositors’ profits, stood at AED 3.3 billion, an increase of 65% compared to AED 2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2005. Total assets in 2006 reached to AED 64.5 billion reporting an increase of 50% compared to AED 43 billion in 2005.
Financing and investment operations also delivered strong growth, with total investment and financing assets including investments in sukuks stood at AED 38.8 billion, an increase of 28% over last year. Customer deposits also showed an aggressive growth of 43% over last year reaching AED47.7 billion in 2006.
DIB has recently announced the breaking of another world record by raising US$3.52 billion Sukuk for the Nakheel Group. This Sukuk adopted a 1st of its kind structure never used before in Islamic or conventional banking history. The Nakheel Sukuk brings the total Sukuk raised by DIB in the UAE to more than US$9 billion (AED33 billion), an unprecedented amount in the history of Islamic Banking.
The bank has been proactive in creating partnerships and alliances at local and international level. DIB has adapted an aggressive expansion strategy, which started with the establishment of DIB Pakistan Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of DIB. DIB opened its first representative office in Turkey to improve its access to that market. DIB has also acquired 60 per cent of its stake in Al Khartoum Bank and is also among the parents banks of Emirates and Sudan Bank (ESB). The steps taken mark DIB’s ambitious plans to roll out its operations into regional and international markets as part of its overall strategic plan.
