Diploma Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: Sehr gut, University of Vienna (Universität Wien), course: Macro Economics and Finance, language: English, abstract: The literature discusses Islamic investment funds and hedge funds as isolated issues. At present not much work is known, comparing these two very prominent alternative investment forms. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by providing a first insight into both and also tries to answer the following question: Can Islamic investment funds catch up with hedge funds? For this, the thesis compares Islamic investment funds and hedge funds on the basis of different factors, trying to answer three sub questions: What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Are there differences and/or similarities between the two? How can an investment portfolio including both be balanced? As will be seen throughout the thesis, Islamic investment funds provide a handfull of advantages over hedge funds, even enabling the former to outperform the latter. Hedge funds rely mainly on gaining advantage through market inefficiencies, hedging the market risk through short-term opportunities. This construction puts the fund manager into a high risk position with high profit potential. Despite investment restrictions under Islamic law, a fund manager is not prohibited from facilitating hedge funds by these restrictions. The main difference is that Islamic investments offer more risk control by cooperative arrangements. This characteristic enables an investor to cover the risk of hedge funds by investing in Islamic investment funds. Nevertheless, such differences raise the issue of whether it is sensible to invest solely in Islamic investment funds or hedge funds. [...]

Diploma Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: Sehr gut, University of Vienna (Universit t Wien), course: Macro Economics and Finance, 74 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The literature discusses Islamic investment funds and hedge funds as isolated issues. At present not much work is known, comparing these two very prominent alternative investment forms. This thesis attempts to fill this gap by providing a first insight into both and also tries to answer the following question: Can Islamic investment funds catch up with hedge funds? For this, the thesis compares Islamic investment funds and hedge funds on the basis of different factors, trying to answer three sub questions: What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Are there differences and/or similarities between the two? How can an investment portfolio including both be balanced? As will be seen throughout the thesis, Islamic investment funds provide a handfull of advantages over hedge funds, even enabling the former to outperform the latter. Hedge funds rely mainly on gaining advantage through market inefficiencies, hedging the market risk through short-term opportunities. This construction puts the fund manager into a high risk position with high profit potential. Despite investment restrictions under Islamic law, a fund manager is not prohibited from facilitating hedge funds by these restrictions. The main difference is that Islamic investments offer more risk control by cooperative arrangements. This characteristic enables an investor to cover the risk of hedge funds by investing in Islamic investment funds. Nevertheless, such differences raise the issue of whether it is sensible to invest solely in Islamic investment funds or hedge funds. ...]

A guide to Islamic investment opportunities from the CEO of the world's leading Islamic finance bank Offering an insider's perspective on a rapidly growing sector of the financial industry, Investing in Islamic Funds details the basic principles of Islamic investing for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It explains how Islamic equity and fixed-income products differ from traditional funds, and how they deliver excellent results while still conforming to Sharia principles. Using hard data from the last six years, the book also reveals how Islamic funds have offered predictable, reliable returns in volatile markets and turbulent financial times. For institutional investors as well as sophisticated individual investors, the book serves as an excellent introduction to the subject and surveys the full range of products available. Additionally, the book will arm financial services professionals with the knowledge they need to explain this new investment opportunity to clients. One of the few books available that offers comprehensive data on the performance of Islamic funds in addition to the underlying theory that governs them Written by the CEO of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management, the world's leading Islamic finance bank Features charts, case studies, comparative analysis, and a tabular data format Debunks the misconceptions traditional investors may have about the profitability Islamic funds For professional and institutional investors, as well as private investors looking for new opportunities, Investing in Islamic Funds offers a much-needed primer on this fast-growing market.

Hedge funds are perhaps the hottest topic in finance today, but little material of substance to date has been written on the topic. Most books focus on how to set up a hedge fund and the basic strategies, while few to none focus on what matters most: generating and understanding investment performance. This book takes an exclusive look at the latter, including an analysis of the areas that are most likely to generate strong investment returns OCo namely, the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The book will be invaluable to not only financial professionals, but anyone interested in learning about hedge funds and their future.

Ensure Basel III compliance with expert analysis specific to Islamic Finance Islamic Capital Markets and Products provides a thorough examination of Islamic capital markets (ICM), with particular attention to the products that they offer and the legal and regulatory infrastructure within which they operate. Since Islamic banks act as asset managers, attention is paid to the regulatory challenges which they face in the light of Basel III, as regards both eligible capital and liquidity risk management. The authors of the chapters are professionals and practitioners, and write from experience. The editors also contributed to some of the chapters. The markets and products covered include Islamic equities, Islamic investment certificates (Sukūk) which are Shari'ah compliant alternatives to conventional bonds, and Islamic Collective Investment Schemes. The coverage of legal and regulatory issues includes an examination of the implications for ICM of securities laws and regulations and of Basel III, as well as collateralisation issues. Shari'ah compliance aspects, in terms both of the selection criteria for Islamic equities and of the 'purification' of impermissible components of income, are also examined in some detail, as are the implications of Basel III for eligible capital in general and for Shari'ah compliant capital instruments in particular. A similar analysis is also made of the implications of the Basel III requirements for liquidity risk management and high quality liquid assets (HQLA), including Shari'ah compliant HQLA. The book concludes with three case studies, two describing the ICM in Malaysia and Bahrain and a third which describes Sukūk issued as Shari'ah compliant capital instruments, followed by brief concluding remarks by the editors.

This original book examines how investment theory and regulatory constraints are linked to the professional processes of portfolio investments, and how the principles of Islam as defined by sharia fit into these processes. It also explores the measures required to create and grow a global Islamic asset management industry.