Building International Presence in the Islamic Asset Management Industry.
CIMB-Principal Islamic launched three Islamic Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) Equity Funds at the 6th International Takaful Summit (ITS), held in London. The launch took place on the 11th of July 2012 and was graced by His Excellency, Dato’ Sri Zakaria Sulong the High Commissioner of Malaysia in London. He was accompanied by Datuk Noripah Kamso, Chief Executive of CIMB-Principal Islamic and Mr Christopher Reddy, Chairman of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management, (Ireland) Plc.
The launch followed the establishment of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management (Ireland) Plc, the first Malaysian-based international Islamic funds platform domiciled in Dublin, Ireland. On this platform, three new Islamic UCITS Equity Funds were registered – Islamic Global Emerging Markets Equity Funds, Islamic Asia Pacific ex-Japan Equity Funds and Islamic ASEAN Equity Funds. The Funds will be registered and offered to investors in seven jurisdictions – the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore.
The Islamic UCITS Equity Funds were identified and offered to international investors based on market research revealing growing investor demand for investment strategies that tap into the region’s strong economic performance. These strategies are currently not widely available on a UCITS fund platform. CIMB-“European Passport” where authorisation in one EU member state allows the sale of the fund in any other EU member state without the need for additional authorisation. UCITS are highly regulated and as such are well regarded globally, with robust risk management procedures and a strong emphasis on investor protection. As a result, UCITS standards are recognised beyond the EU and UCITS products are accepted for sale in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa. UCITS funds are flexible because they can accommodate multiple investor classes with different fee regimes in different currencies to meet the appetite of institutional and retail investors from many jurisdictions. The funds also offer investors a product which operates within a well-defined regulatory framework where significant checks and balances exist. Given the appetite of investors for such a well-regulated product and the distribution opportunities which UCITS offer to investment managers, the ever-increasing prominence of UCITS seems inevitable. Such platforms are popular in the conventional space and Islamic asset managers should take full advantage, structuring these funds and utilising them to service the integrated world. According to Mr Christopher Reddy, “the UCITS product is suited to managers who would like to reach investors on a worldwide basis. Optimising Ireland’s offerings is certainly an appropriate strategy. Ireland has made some important strides in facilitating Islamic financial instrument transactions”.
“The idea of establishing a global fund platform is conceived as an initiative to overcome the challenge to bring international and institutional monies into Malaysia for its transformation into an international hub for Islamic finance”, said Datuk Noripah.
“With this new Islamic fund range in Ireland, institutional and retail investors globally will be able to see CIMB-Principal Islamic’s asset management track record. If the funds do well, not only will this attract investment into these funds, but institutional investors may also appoint CIMB-Principal Islamic to manage their discretionary mandates. Having the funds registered in Ireland demonstrates the robustness of the Malaysian asset management regulatory framework. To have registered the funds as UCITS compliant means that the Central Bank of Ireland is convinced that the home regulator for CIMB-Principal Islamic, the Securities Commission, is on par with those in Europe,” Datuk Noripah explained.
On a personal level, Datuk Noripah has propelled CIMB-Principal Islamic into becoming a leading Islamic asset management institution, strengthening Malaysia’s position in international Islamic finance. She has been a firm advocate in promoting Islamic asset management internationally through interviews and many research articles written for international publications. She also shares the research and the benefits of Islamic investing by mitigating investors’ myths at domestic and international conferences.
Datuk Noripah brings a strong commitment and belief to her work, advancing the cause of Islamic asset management in Asia and beyond by optimising her 8 years of leadership in the asset management field.
Her focus stems from a deep conviction that Shari’a compliant investing offers a compelling value proposition for investors, both Muslim and non-Muslim, who value ethical business practises, social responsibility and fiscal conservatism.
The International Takaful Summit (ITS) is a key event on the annual calendar of the international takaful community. The event brings together industry players and decision-makers to discuss the future growth of this blossoming sector of Islamic finance. At the summit, CIMB-Principal Islamic won two awards, cementing its global presence in the Islamic asset management industry. The company won ‘Best Asset Management House (Asia)’, recognising the size and scope of Shari’a-compliant products offered and CIMB- Principal Islamic’s commitment to the takaful industry. In addition, Datuk Noripah was honoured with an individual award for her contribution to the Islamic asset management industry.
In granting the personal achievement award to Datuk Noripah, Mohaned Abdullah, Managing Director of Istishar IQ and co-founder of ITS said, “Datuk Noripah Kamso has been the driving force in making CIMB-Principal Islamic the award-winning company that it is. To start three and half years ago from zero and building up assets under management of almost USD1 Billion is nothing short of remarkable. We have heard time and time again, over the last 6 years at the International Takaful Summit London, that there is a lack of good Shari’a-compliant investment products and Datuk Noripah took heed and endeavoured to do something about it and no doubt has been extremely successful at it”.
CIMB-Principal Islamic is a joint venture between CIMB Group and Principal Global Investors, a top-tier US-based asset management company. The latter acts as a global partner to institutional investors who value ethical business practices, social responsibility and fiscal conservatism. Principal Global Investors leverages the established track record and award-winning Islamic franchise of CIMB Islamic.
With CIMB-Principal Islamic potentially reaching commendable assets under management (AUM) of USD1.0 billion in August 2012, it offers a natural choice for institutional investors looking for customised Shari’a solutions with a strong performance in their investment portfolios.
The Company manages 50% of its AUM in global sukuk and 50% equity for the Global and Asia Pacific ex-Japan region. In February 2012, the company was appointed by Al-Hilal Bank of Abu Dhabi as the bank’s investment advisor for the bank’s Al-Hilal Global Sukuk Fund The company’s strength lies in offering holistic Islamic asset management with end-to-end processes by Shari’a principles. It adopts global regulatory, industry and Shari’a best practices. The Company also collaborates with multi-national Shari’a advisors from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Canada. It employs Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) to ensure fair representation and full disclosure of investment performance results.
