The Bahrain-based AlBaraka Islamic Bank, having 12 branches in Pakistan, has launched a new investment fund titled Kotak Shariah Fund (KSF) or Kotak Indian Islamic Fund (KIIF) offered to the public through its branches in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
According to a press release issued here, KSF is registered in Mauritius and managed by the Kotak Mahindra (KM-UK). The KM-UK is a subsidiary of the Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) which has over US $5.2 billion worth of assets under management and employs more than 10,000 staff and had successful joint ventures with the Goldman Sachs in the past in brokerage and investment banking business in India. The KMB bought out Goldman Sachs' stake in the joint ventures last year. The KIIF comprises all class "A" share issued in KSF.
The fund is open-ended allowing investors to redeem their investments on any business day. The fund will be solely invested in the Indian stock market under the principles of Shariah law as advised by it's Shariah advisory board under the guidance of Dr Abdul Sattar Abu Ghoda and Shaikh Yusuf Talal de Lorenzo. The Unified Shariah Board of Al-Baraka in Jeddah has approved the KIIF.
"We shall market this very unique and novel investment opportunity through our group network to the investors internationally," the release said quoting a bank spokesman. The President & Chief Executive of Albaraka Banking Group, Adnan Ahmed Yousif said he was "very proud of the opportunity to work hand in hand with one of the most renowned financial groups in India in providing the opportunity to investors of tapping into one of Asia's strongest economies. In order to appreciate the might of the Indian economy you have to understand it, and the only way to understand it is to penetrate through the guidance of key players such as the KMB".
The head of the International business, Kotak Group, Paul Parambi said, "Indian equity indices have risen around 67% (sensex) in the past years on the back of strong domestic growth story, improving global competitiveness of Indian companies and robust foreign institutional inflows to India".-PR