Nov 30 2011 |
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Kenya set for first IF fund
By Steve Mbogo Kenya's FCB Capital, a subsidiary of the First Community Bank, will launch the country's first fully Shari'ah compliant investment fund, the First Ethical Opportunity fund, in January.The fund has been licensed by the Capital Markets Authority and "it will be an open-ended fund that will be available to retail and institutional investors," said MD of FCB Capital, Antony Wambura. Each unit will be priced at $20, with a minimum investment of 10 units
Wambura said to The Islamic Globe: "Our biggest challenge, as of now, is the limited nature of investments available to us especially on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), where according to the regulations we are supposed to invest most of our money."
The regulator requires the fund to limit its investment in non-listed assets to 20%, 10% in offshore investments, 10% in cash or near cash assets and 20% in real estate although the market still lacks Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits).
He also said opportunities off the NSE which Shari'ah compliant funds could utilize included structured products like those used for the financing of the importation of oil and commodities especially the import of sugar and rice.
© The Islamic Globe 2011
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