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What’s New In Investments, Funds? – Baillie Gifford
The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.
Baillie Gifford
Baillie
Gifford, a global investment manager founded in Edinburgh,
has introduced its Dublin-domiciled Islamic Global Equities Fund
for institutional and accredited investors in Singapore and
professional investors in Hong Kong. Managed by Tolibjon Tursunov
and Saad Malik, the fund offers Islamic investors access to a
high conviction portfolio of growth companies aligned with
Shariah principles, the firm said in a statement.
Despite growing global interest in Islamic investing, the team believes that Muslims are still faced with a lack of good options. The firm highlighted that there are an estimated two billion Muslims globally, making Islam one of the world's fastest-growing religions. Yet Islamic equity funds account for less than 1 per cent of the global equity universe.
“Investing in line with your beliefs should be simple, but for many Islamic investors, it isn't. Islamic equity funds account for less than 1 per cent of the global equity universe, and most offer little more than a screened index,” Tolibjon Tursunov, who began developing the fund over 10 years ago, said.
“Before launching, we established strong working relationships with leading scholars within Islamic finance and other industry stakeholders. These efforts have paved the way for dialogue that adds value for clients but also beneits the wider Islamic investment community,” Tolibjon added.
The $2.79 million fund is built for institutional and accredited investors in Singapore, and professional investors in Hong Kong with a long-term horizon of five years or more. It invests in a global portfolio of around 50 of the world's best Shariah-compliant growth companies.
Top 10 holdings include US tech multinationals Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, as well as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
“Southeast Asia is home to the world’s third-largest regional population of Muslims. We have seen growing demand here for investment strategies that align with Shariah principles without compromising on ambition. Baillie Gifford’s Islamic Global Equities Fund offers exactly that and represents another option for the market here,” Calvin Liew, client relationship director, Singapore at Baillie Gifford, said.