• Islamic assets under management amount to $34.74 billion across 555 worldwide funds
• A total of 147 Islamic funds manage more than $18 billion in Saudi Arabia; 36 funds in Kuwait manage $2.1 billion; 20 funds in Bahrain manage $394 million; three in the UAE manage $78 million; and Qatar manages $16 million with one fund.
• Global Takaful premiums reached $5.6 billion last year; $2.4 billion in Saudi Arabia, $157 million in the United Arab Emirates, $149 million in Qatar and $100 million in Bahrain.
• The Malaysian government was world leader as Sukuk lead arranger in the period from February 2009 to February 2010 with 134 issues and a market share of 50% - a manager commitment of more than $21 billion.
• The remaining top ten Islamic bond lead arrangers were CIMB, AMMB Holdings, HSBC, Malayan Banking, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank, Malaysian Industrial Development Finance and RHB Banking.
• Islamic loan volume reached in excess of $5.6 billion in Saudi Arabia during the February 2009 to February 2010 period. Islamic loan volume in the United Arab Emirates was the next highest at $4 billion, followed by Qatar at $1.2 billion, Bahrain at $440 million and Kuwait at $202 million.
• The top ten Islamic loan lead arrangers for the February 2009 to February 2010 period were: Dubai Islamic Bank, Samba Financial, Qatar Islamic Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, National Commercial Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment, Al Hilal Bank and Arab Bank.
• The worldwide Halal food market is estimated to be worth $641.5 billion
Sources: Lipper and Thomson Reuters, Tokio Marine Middle East, World Halal Forum
What the industry says about Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Gateway
"Takaful is a fast growing and evolving industry but there is a chronic shortage of reliable information. Thomson Reuter's Gateway is a quantum leap in filling the gap in available information and will prove an indispensable tool for industry practitioners, investors, researchers, students and scholars.” - Ajmal Bhatty, Chief Executive Officer Takaful, Tokio Marine Middle East, United Arab Emirates.
“The Islamic Finance Gateway may begin the process of real standardisation, by putting all stakeholders of Islamic finance at one's fingertips, allowing for communication and connectivity.” - Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, President/CEO of Amanie Islamic Finance Learning Centre United Arab Emirates, International Institute of Islamic Finance and Amanie Business Solutions, Malaysia.
“The Islamic Finance Gateway is the need of the hour in Islamic finance during these volatile times on real time news, data, analytics, etc., to address the work flow.” - Issam Al Tawari, Chairman and Managing Director, Rasameel, Kuwait.
"The Islamic Finance Gateway contributes the much needed conventional industry visibility and efficiency for Islamic finance to move forward.” - Christopher O’Brien, Vice President, Global Business Development, S&P Indices.
“Having seen demos of the data presentation in the new Islamic gateway, this will be an important addition to increasing transparency in the Islamic finance world and also in giving participants in the Islamic finance industry a dedicated platform with which they can tailor to their own individual needs.” - Simon Eedle, Global Head Islamic Banking and Head of Fixed Income Markets for Middle East and North Africa, Calyon, Bahrain.
“The convergence of Islamic finance with the Halal product sector is likely to be one of the most important growth sectors of the coming decade. The very fact that Thomson Reuters are now focusing on this convergence is in itself a significant milestone in this emerging market and the inclusion of Halal market information on their new Islamic Finance Gateway will stimulate interest in both food and finance market sectors.” - Abdalhamid Evans, Owner at HalalFocus.com, Senior Analyst at Imarat Consultants, Malaysia.
