WEST PALM BEACH, FL (www.hedgeco.net) – Deutsche Bank AG, Europe’s third- largest lender, has announced plans to offer Islamic investors an opportunity to invest in funds using strategies similar tohedge funds. Such funds however, will comply with the Koran�s specifications on investments types. For instance the Koran forbids Muslims from investing in portfolio assets such as alcohol, tobaccoand securities that pay interest.
According to the report, the new funds being introduced by Deutsche bank will be targeting institutional and wealthy Islamic investors, in mostly Asia and the Middle East. The new fund may be introduced in June 2005, according to Geert Bossuyt, head of the bank’s Retail Islamic Finance Group in London. The new portfolios will offer Muslim fund managers with a wider range of investment options, than is currently available, including bonds, equities, and real estate.
Bossuyt said in an interview that,“Many Islamic investors are looking for absolute returns and few solutions.� He added, “There are not many Shariah hedge funds, or even Islamic bonds, available, and most of them are not really liquid.”
According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, there were �$30 billion of Islamic bonds outstanding at the end of 2004.� Deutsche Bank’s new fund will be called The Islamic HF Tracker and will try to match the returns of the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, Bossuyt explained.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: Editor@hedgeco.net
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