The new funds will comply with European Union Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and the approvals are expected soon. (source)
CIMB-Principal Islamic chief executive Datuk Noripah Kamso said fund managers now prefer to seek the UCITS stamp for their funds to easily reach and appeal to more international investors.
"We are expecting to obtain the approvals by this current quarter and launch the funds by the end of the year and our target market is the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Europe and of course Asia," she said in an interview here recently.
CIMB-Principal Islamic is a 50:50 joint venture between NYSE-listed Principal Global Investors and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd since 2008.
The partnership, said Noripah, has been very successful as it allows the company to leverage on the strong global Islamic credentials of CIMB Group while Principal Global Investors lends its expertise in global asset management.
"We believe we are in the forefront among the other 16 Islamic asset fund managers and the number one in terms of market share and has won various international awards," said Noripah.
Its latest recognition came from Islamic Finance News, where it was awarded the best Islamic asset manager in Asia and globally.
Noripah said investment in Islamic products is gaining popularity because it have been proven to be very resilient in both bull and bear markets since 2006.
"From inflationary fears to the US mortgage crisis to the financial crisis followed by the Dubai crisis, the eurozone concerns, the tsunami in Japan to the downgrade of the US by Standard and Poor's, Islamic global equity has outperformed."
She added that there are over US$52 billion (RM154.96 billion) syariah assets under management (AUM) worldwide over a potential of US$400 billion (RM1.19 trillion).
"The figure is growing not just in terms of AUM but also client base, product mix and geographical reach," she said.
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