MENA Asset Management Survey 2012 - National Bank of Abu Dhabi

Sharia Compliant Funds
million), while there were outflows in Bahrain (US$ 101 million), Kuwait (US$ 29 million),
Oman (US$ 28 million), and Qatar (US$ 7 million).
Distribution of Net Fund Flows in the GCC by Country
(September 2012)
1,400
1,200
1,000
US$ billion
800
600
400
200
0
(200)
(101.5) (29.8) (28.3) (7.9)
1,329.8
209.0
Bahrain Kuw ait Oman Qatar S. Arabia United Arab
Emirates
Source: Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company
The general distribution pattern of the fund flows and sales registrations implies that
Islamic fund managers are focusing on the Malaysian and GCC markets. This is leading
to a lack of available investment instruments for Islamic investors in other parts of the
world. Even though some fund promoters haven’t had the expected success with their
products in the past, there is a growing demand for well-managed Shariah-compliant
funds in Western countries because of the increasing wealth of the Muslim population
within these countries.
One lesson fund promoters can learn from the past is that Islamic funds did not seem to
be efficient enough to divert conventional investors to tap into the Islamic fund market.
Some of these funds didn’t show competitive performance and/or transparency. In 2010,
Cologne-based Meridio AG launched its Luxembourg-domiciled Islamic mutual fund, but
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