Stanlib Puts Islamic Fund on Hold

August 7 - The global recession has caused many insurance and fund management companies to put any expansion plans on hold, and Stanlib is no exception.

The company announced that it is freezing plans to launch a global equity Islamic Fund until further notice.

An Islamic finance fund would exclude investment in areas such as gambling, pornography and alcohol which are forbidden by the religion. The new fund would also have avoided investment in the financial sector because charging interest is also forbidden under Sharia, or Islamic law.

Ashraf Mohamed, who joined Stanlib in 2007 to help set up the new Islamic offering, handed in his notice in June this year after plans were put on hold.

He continues to serve as an external manager of the Stanlib Sharia'ah Equity Fund.

In a statement, Stanlib said that it "remains committed to building on its broad range of investment capabilities and will announce any future developments in its Islamic finance strategy in due course."

Mohamed now has plans to launch his own Islamic global equity fund and is on the lookout for partners to back his project.

It is believed that global Islamic assets will be worth $1.6 trillion with in the next 2 years.