DIB simultaneously launches two innovative investment products

• Bank's Wealth Management Division continues to provide benchmark offerings
• $36m closed-ended Al Islami Shipping Fund II offers regular profit distribution
• Three-year 50/50 Upside Note with Sharia-compliant mechanism to achieve capital protection capitalises on volatility of global equity markets
• Two unique products provide clients with diversified approach to their investments

Launched by DIB's Wealth Management Division, the two products include the eight-year $36m Al Islami Shipping Fund II, which offers an expected income of eight per cent annually, with quarterly profit distribution through a Musharaka contract, or Islamic Partnership; and the three-year 50/50 Upside Note with a Sharia-compliant mechanism to achieve capital protection, which provides exposure to the global equity market and will benchmark the performance of the Alpha Pairs Sectors index - a unique long-short strategy developed by Deutsche Bank.

Naveed Ahmad, Head of Investments for Wealth Management, DIB, said: "As part of our continual development of the Wealth Management platform, we are pleased to launch these two complimentary investment products. These unique products offer our clients very different ways to manage their assets, and we believe that both should be part of any customer's investment portfolio. It is our constant endevour to work with our Asset Management Team and a range of internationally recognised third-party providers to offer the widest possible range of investment products."

He continued: "We have chosen to launch these two very different products at the same time in response to the recent decline in US interest rates and, simultaneously, the growing volatility in the global markets. The Al Islami Shipping Fund II offers an expected regular profit distribution that is significantly higher than the current FD rates, while the 50/50 Upside Note with a Sharia-compliant mechanism to achieve capital protection has historically performed very well during times of global market volatility, such as today."

Both products have been approved by DIB's Sharia Board, which is headed by Dr. Hussain Hamed Hassan, Chairman, Sharia Board DIB Group and the Head of the Sharia Supervisory Committees of many leading Islamic financial institutions. DIB's Sharia Board will continually monitor the entire investment and reporting process.

The eight-year Shipping Fund II is a Musharaka contract with large, widely recognised investors in three vessels. This innovative product, which offers the stability and predictable returns of the shipping market, provides an expected income of eight per cent annually.

The three-year 50/50 Upside Note with a Sharia-compliant mechanism to achieve capital protection, linked to the performance of the Deutsche Bank's Alpha Pairs Sector index, is carried out through a Sharia-compliant mechanism. One hundred per cent capital protection is achieved through a binding promise by the agent to purchase the assets of the fund at maturity at cost, plus margin basis.