Falah Capital, a US-based investment group, said its flagship Islamic exchange traded fund (ETF) certified for shariah compliance by Shariyah Review Bureau, has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The ETF has so far produced a return of -1.29 per cent and has outperformed broader market US Indexes, said a statement.

Tracking the Russell-Ideal Ratings Islamic US Large Cap Index, it is the first of its kind to be listed on the NYSE, which can be traded globally. It is also the first fund in the US to be supervised for Shari’a compliance by a GCC based shariah advisor.

The ETF as a qualified investment will reduce regulatory constraints and bring a wide variety of benefits for ethical investors and communities of Islamic financiers from Thailand to Australia, Pakistan to Indonesia, UK to Africa and US.

Thom Polson, co-founder and CEO of Falah Capital, said: “We are very excited about this ETF and look forward to working with our regulator to maintain best practices. We also expect that passively managed Islamic funds will appeal to a wide community of Islamic investors as they provide broader company coverage and more diversified sector exposure, than many funds that have a high concentration in a few sectors or stocks.”
 
To validate the funds ongoing trading and improve operational efficiency from a shariah perspective Falah Capital had assigned the growing footprint and resources of one of the world’s leading shariah advisory company – Shariyah Review Bureau.

Naif A Al-Obaidallah, Falah Capital founding member,  added: “We are proud to have received the shariah certification from Shariyah Review Bureau who will also be supervising the continuous health of the fund’s shariah compliance as we now begin to engage the fund’s business into the expanding Islamic equities market"

There has been a phenomenal growth of Islamic equity markets in recent years with funds propping up not only in the GCC and Muslim populated countries instead in diverse geographical places such as South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Thailand – all of whom have been ambitiously working to become part of this growth, he said.

Following the listing, Polson noted: "By adhering to ethical and faith based investment requirements. We have committed ourselves to a long-term and sustainable alignment of interests with those of our customers. And being positioned on the New York stock exchange as shariah compliant is part of a transformation process, which will allow American and global investors to trade in the Islamic capital markets.”
 
According to a Shariyah Review Bureau’s experience stock markets in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar will remain be the most active in the GCC region but they also foresee a positive pipeline of companies looking to launch Islamic funds regionally as well as on international stock exchanges.
 
Yasser Dahlawi, CEO at Shari’ah Review Bureau, said: “For Muslims around the world doing business in a shariah compliant way is vital

“Given the strong market sentiment in the Islamic equity trading markets we expect this first NYSE listing to gain more momentum especially as shariah compliant indices continue to outperform all conventional developed and emerging market country indices and almost all frontier countries.

“We are proud to be part of this effort in certifying and auditing the compliance of the listed ETF from a shariah perspective.” - TradeArabia News Service