Khaleej Finance and Investment receives top award from The Banker Magazine

KFI won the award for arranging, promoting and placing the landmark, US $50 million Sharia Compliant Capital Protected Equity Fund. The Fund which is linked to the Islamic Dow Jones, allows investors to benefit from the performance of the index without any risk to their initial capital.

The Banker Magazine, in collaboration with the Financial Times, annually selects one winning deal per country. The awards span over 50 countries and KFI beat out competition in Bahrain to take home this prestigious honour.

Accepting the award, at the Fairmont Hotel, Dubai, on behalf of KFI was Mr. Hasan Habib, Manager- Treasury and Financial Institutions.

Nabil Hadi, Chief Executive, KFI said,

"I am very pleased that KFI has won this prestigious award, and take pride in the fact that our product has been deemed "The Deal of the Year" in the Kingdom of Bahrain."

He added, "KFI is always looking for promising and lucrative investment deals and we are committed to presenting such opportunities to our clients and investors across the GCC. We maintain that our products are compatible with Islamic Sharia principle. Khaleej Finance and Investment has worked diligently to achieve our reputation by selecting numerous investment opportunities which are compatible with the market conditions and our valued investors' requirements."

The event was attended by a prestigious list of invitees from the business and financial institutions.

Upon receiving the award, Mr. Hasan Habib, Manager - Treasury and Financial Institutions, KFI said, "We are proud to accept this award from The Banker Magazine and the Financial Times. We were delighted to introduce our pioneering Sharia Compliant Capital Protected Equity Fund last year; the fund enabled investors to receive 100 per cent of their initial capital back after a specified maturity period and this proved very popular with our investor base."

"KFI is fast gaining a reputation in the region for our portfolio of high performance Sharia compliant investment products. Our team works hard to arrange innovative, profitable and strategic deals for our clients and it is rewarding to be recognised for our efforts," concluded Mr. Hasan Habib

The Capital Protected Equity Fund (the winning deal) is a 5-year closed-end investment, with a minimum initial subscription of US $250,000. The Fund was developed with an initial value of US $50 million, but KFI can raise the fund offering to US $100 million at any time prior to the Fund's closing.

At the end of the 5-year maturity period, investors receive 100% of their initial capital, with a minimum additional 8% return on investment, and not less than 90% participation of the average monthly performance.

The stocks that comprise the Fund were carefully selected from the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIM), and represent the 20 largest Sharia'h compliant listed companies (based on regional weighting). Each of the 20 companies is equally weighted in the overall basket.

The equity basket represents exposure in various countries, with 15% in Asia, 30% in Europe and 55% in the United States. The industry exposure of the basket covers the communications, technology, energy and consumer sectors, among others.