![](\"images\/stories\/news1\/british_shariah_fund.jpg\")
Eyeing to get a share of the booming Islamic finance industry, a British firm has launched a Shari`ah-compliant fund to enable Muslims to save for retirement, the Zawya website reported.
“We developed this product because we realized that there were no Shari`ah compliant registered pension schemes in the UK that supported Islamic wealth management,” Jo French, managing director of Pointon York, told The Islamic Globe.<\/p>\n
Launched by Pointon York, a UK-based financial advisory company, the self-invested personal pensions (SIPP) allow British Muslims to save for retirement in compliance with religious and ethical principles.<\/p>\n
Point York is the first firm to get Shari`ah-compliant accreditation by the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB).<\/p>\n
“People are being alerted to the risks of not putting enough aside in pensions for their retirement,” said Sultan Choudhury, the commercial director of IBB, according to The Independent.<\/p>\n
The fund offers four products, one of which is the corporate SIPP, which is made up of three tiers to allow an extensive and varied range of investments.<\/p>\n
The first level is the e- SIPP, which is a simple product aimed at individual savers who want to manage their pension investments online.<\/p>\n
A second level is the Single Investment SIPP, a straightforward SIPP for clients wishing to invest in a single asset.<\/p>\n
The third individual SIPP serves more sophisticated investors through a fully flexible SIPP allowing an extensive and varied range of investments.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, investors will be able to save in a self-invest personal pension and choose from a range of Shari`ah-compliant assets. These could include cash, funds and property.<\/p>\n
Savers will also be able to enjoy tax relief on their pension contributions.<\/p>\n
Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2 million. “As we developed the SIPP product we realized that many of the ethical concerns of our existing, non-Muslim clients were reflected in this Shari’ah compliant product,” French, the managing director of Pointon York, said.<\/p>\n Despite the presence of five Islamic banks, Britain’s retail Muslim market has been underserved for Shari`ah-compliant products and savings vehicles for a number of years.<\/p>\n “Retirement planning has been neglected because, among other reasons, the specific needs of Muslims have not been addressed,” Choudhury of the IBB said.<\/p>\n The IBB will monitor the SIPPs to ensure they do not invest in non Shari`ah- compliant markets such as gambling and tobacco.<\/p>\n Islam forbids Muslims from usury, receiving or paying interest on loans.<\/p>\n Islamic banks and finance institutions cannot receive or provide funds for anything involving alcohol, gambling, pornography, tobacco, weapons or pork.<\/p>\n Shari`ah-compliant financing deals resemble lease-to-own arrangements, layaway plans, joint purchase and sale agreements, or partnerships.<\/p>\n Investors have a right to know how their funds are being used, and the sector is overseen by dedicated supervisory boards as well as the usual national regulatory authorities.<\/p>\n The Shari`ah-compliant system is now being practiced in 50 countries worldwide, making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the global financial industry.<\/p>\n Starting almost three decades ago, the Islamic banking industry has made substantial growth and attracted the attention of investors and bankers across the world.<\/p>\n A long list of international institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC and Deutsche Bank, are going into the Islamic banking business. Eyeing to get a share of the booming Islamic finance industry, a British firm has launched a Shari`ah-compliant fund to enable Muslims to save for retirement, the Zawya website reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Growing Demand
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The new fund is aimed to fulfil a growing demand for Muslims for Shari`ah-compliant products.<\/p>\n
Currently, there are nearly 300 Islamic banks and financial institutions worldwide whose assets are predicted to grow to $1 trillion by 2013.
Source: OnIslam & News Agencies<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"