To redefine the rules of the game requires a visionary, one capable of going beyond established boundaries and entering new frontiers of possibility. As Islamic finance grows, expands and flourishes, stakeholders in its future health cannot simply reinvent the wheel but must continually be seeking new opportunities, to achieve growth through a unique and nuanced foresight. It requires individuals and organizations with the perspicacity to push the boundaries. Datuk Noripah Kamso is such an individual: wise, insightful, sharp and committed to the development of the global Islamic asset management sector. Taking the helm of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd (CIMB-Principal Islamic) in 2008, the global institutional house has successfully demonstrated a convincing Islamic investment track record via customised investment capabilities.
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, CIMB-Principal Islamic is strategically located in a prime location for Islamic finance. Malaysia has firmly established itself as a hub for Islamic finance, making strides in thought leadership, product development and institutional establishment. Its overall success in Islamic finance owes itself to the support of the government, who has taken gradual steps in creating the right infrastructure for Islamic finance to flourish. Today Malaysia is one of the world’s most developed Islamic fi- nance jurisdictions and the world’s first country to have a complete Islamic financial system operating in parallel to the conventional system. This allows CIMB- Principal Islamic to leverage on Malaysia’s comprehensive Islamic financial legal and regulatory infrastructure.
“Spearheading new business continuously drives me.”
Noripah, who was previously the Chief Executive of CIMB-Principal Asset Management Berhad from September 2004 to October 2008, has brought more than 25 years of experience in corporate credit and lending. Her commendable dedication in creating awareness and educating the industry has deemed her a two-time winner of the “Marketing Personality of the Year” award (for 2005 & 2006) by Asia Asset Management for the Asia Pacific region and CEO of The Year for Malaysia (2007). Due to her consistent thought leadership initiatives with global institutional investors, regulators and stakeholders, CIMB-Principal Islamic has won numerous prestigious awards – two-time winner of the Best Asset Management Company awarded by Global Finance 2010 and 2011, Most Outstanding Islamic Fund Manager at the 7th KLIFF Islamic Finance Awards 2010. Previous awards also include the Islamic Fund House of The Year (2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009) awarded by Islamic Finance News. Her focus stems from a deep conviction that Islamic finance is more than just a capitalistic alternative. It is a complete system, one that ex- pounds an ethical and profitable ethos; and one that needs to cohere in the markets. Noripah brings this belief to her work, advancing the cause of Islamic finance in Malaysia and the World.
Considering that CIMB-Principal Islamic aspires to be the most valued Islamic global institutional asset management house, Noripiah has ensured its global recognition. Datuk Noripah takes pride in this aspiration. Her primary functions are to market and build up the firm by securing institutional clients from around the world through offering global investment management capabilities. CIMB-Principal Islamic focuses on four investment capabilities: Global Equity, Global Sukuk, Regional Equity and Regional Sukuk. Whilst Noripah was based in London in the first half of 2009, she was able to push forward its shareholder Principal Global Investors (PGI) model. She later interfaced the global business model with that of CIMB-Prin- cipal Islamic Asset Management. This move brought widespread attention and consequently led to an increase in the customer base.
Not wishing to rest on her laurels, Noripah has broadened her attention, recognising the need to build up an international dimension to Islamic finance from a regulatory and governmental perspective. She has been working closely with the Malaysian International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) to bring in international capital into Malaysia and make Malaysia the global hub for Islamic asset management. CIMB-Principal Islamic is targeting “low-hanging fruits” in Malaysia, South East Asia, Gulf Confederation Countries (GCC), the UK, Geneva and Germany. CIMB-Principal Islamic was the first company to obtain the MIFC-initiated license, thereby allowing the public launch of its global Islamic fund management operations in Malaysia. 50:50 joint venture initiatives have deepened the existing relationship between its two shareholders: the Malaysian CIMB Group and Principal Financial Group of US, a Fortune 500 Company. This joint venture is very significant to both shareholders as it houses their entire global Islamic asset management business. Following the establishment of this relationship, Noripah has been advocating the development of Islamic asset management by meeting global standards. Noripah has been staunch in ensuring that CIMB-Principal Islamic is in line with international best practices. By following the best practices of PGI, a globally renowned asset manager whose Asset Under Management of approximate USD232 billion and who manages 6 out of the 25 largest pension funds in the US, CIMB-Principal Islamic is believed to have become the first bank-owned Shari’a-compliant global Islamic asset management house that is GIPS-compli- ant (Global Investment Performance Standards). This is an important pre-requisite since CIMB-Principal Islamic offers Islamic investment solutions to global institutional investors namely, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Houses, Takafuls, Waqaf and Central Banks. It also manages sub-advised collective investment trust funds.
“Datuk Noripah believes Islamic finance has only scratched the surface. There are still obstacles to overcome, and doubters to be convinced but Noripah knows that only through dedication and commitment to the Islamic finance proposition will success result.”
As of 31st March 2011, its shareholder’s group has a total combined Islamic Asset under Management of USD 2.7 billion. A total of USD546 million worth of new mandates were awarded to CIMB-Principal Islamic since August 2009 from South East Asian Central Banks and Pension Houses.
As the framework of Islamic asset management is still taking shape, Datuk Noripah continues to play an aggressive role in educating and mitigating the misconceptions the mainstream investment community may hold with regard to Islamic investing. She has advanced the thinking revolving around Islamic investments and their
role on the global landscape. She has contributed to a range of global publications including the London-based Euromoney, the Global Islamic Finance Report, Financial Times and Bloomberg. In the GCC, she has written for Dubai-based Islamic Business and Finance and The Saudi-based Middle East Insurance Review. Datuk Noripah has taken it as her responsibility to educate global investors by participating as a speaker in numerous international conferences and roundtable discussions in London, Edinburgh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Tokyo, Bahrain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Brunei, Sydney, USA and of course, Malaysia. In 2010, she chaired the Australian Business to Business Roundtable in Islamic Finance and also participated in the Istanbul Roundtable, a platform identified as a gateway to market players and policymakers from the Russian and CIS countries. Recently, in April 2011, she chaired a private roundtable with Bruneian Islamic banks and takaful operators, organized by CIMB-Principal Islamic itself. Through assessing the large 2nd generation of resident Muslims in the UK, Germany and France and based on Eu- rope’s strong conviction on ethical investing, Noripah has recognized that the best positioning for Shari’a investing inthese jurisdictions is to promote socially responsible investments, values and ethical investing. To ensure an efficient cross-border global distribution model for its products, CIMB-Principal Islamic is planning to launch three Shari’a Equity Funds on a UCITS-compliant platform in Dublin and Ireland.
With the burgeoning interest in Shari’a investing and the comparable returns offered by conventional and Islamic funds over the last five years, Datuk Noripah believes Islamic finance has only scratched the surface. There are still obstacles to overcome and doubters to be convinced but Noripah knows that only through dedication and commitment to the Islamic finance proposition will success result. It will be a long and drawn-out process, but Datuk Noripah is committed to setting the agenda for the global Islamic asset management landscape with her years of expertise and knowledge.
