MIDDLE EAST BANKER: Sukuk is the hot topic in Islamic finance, and we will soon see the industry reach a value of some tens of billions, as Michael Saleh Gassner from IslamicFinance.de writes.
Islamic finance has for some time missed investment opportunities for Muslims that offer a predictable return with low risk. The majority of investment opportunities are based either on stock markets with high volatility or on real estate transactions. The investment galaxy for the Islamic investor is lacking the variety of instruments to create an efficient portfolio in line with portfolio theory and financial planning. Sukuk certificates meet the pressing need for a medium term investment and reached, in 2004, a market volume of nearly US $7 billion. This volume will multiply in coming years to tens of billions of dollars annual volume. Already a number of world-class borrowers have used the new Islamic Sukuk market: Germany; the IMF Group; and Sovereign states like Qatar and Malaysia. Reasons to issue Sukuk and the structures behind them (more)
Mark Alexander
