SEI becomes the first investment manager to launch offshore fund in South Africa. SEI’s Shari’ah funds are available to investors through selected distribution partners. New funds are the SEI Islamic US Equities Fund, the SEI Islamic European Equities Fund, the SEI Islamic Emerging Markets Equities Fund and the SEI Pacific Basin Equities Fund. They are registered with the Financial Services Board and are designed to comply with Shari’ah laws whilst not comprising investment return potential.
The construction of each fund is based on SEI’s manager-of-managers investment philosophy which involves structuring offshore portfolios using multiple managers within each asset class.
Shari’ah funds are benchmarked against the Dow Jones Islamic World Index which covers over 1,600 companies (who are Shari’ah compliant) with a market capitalisation of more than US $9 trillion. The Board of reputable Muslim scholars controls the strict compliance with Shari’ah providing advice on investment objectives, guidelines, contracts and portfolio reviews.
“These funds were successfully launched in Europe last year and now we have brought them to Africa where we see substantial potential for growth,” says Russell Bodill, sales director, SEI, South Africa.
“Offshore investors in South Africa are familiar with the manager of managers concept and have been benefiting from this approach for some time. This is the first time that Muslim investors will be able to take advantage of our internationally-recognised manager of managers program whilst ensuring they still comply with Shari’ah law.”
L.D.