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| Jadwa Investment |
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Riyadh-based Islamic investment house Jadwa has rapidly grown to become one of the biggest and most respected asset managers in the Islamic finance industry. Its total assets under management as at November 2011 totalled about SR6 billion ($1.6 billion).
The firm has been at the forefront of innovation in the industry, introducing a number of firsts in the Middle East, such as its Global Sukuk Fund. Today Jadwa has some 24 funds ranging from low-risk products such as the Jadwa Saudi Riyal Murabaha Fund to higher-risk funds such as the Jadwa Technology Special Opportunities Fund.
Jadwa has also established alliances with important international players, such as London-based Russell Investments. It has launched large-scale private-equity investments in UK real estate alongside London-based CIT Financial Services. It also has a Shariah-compliant Africa fund set up alongside South Africa’s Investec Asset Management.
Jadwa’s latest tie-up is with Sarasin, a Switzerland-based private bank, alongside which it has launched a Shariah-compliant commodity fund.
Jadwa’s funds have consistently outperformed benchmarks. For example, since inception in summer 2007 the firm’s flagship Jadwa GCC Equity Fund has risen 20.9% compared with a 20.09% fall in the S&P GCC Composite Index.
The two other flagship funds, also launched in mid-2007, also outperformed benchmarks: the Jadwa Saudi Equity Fund has risen 43.2% compared with a 10.57% fall in the S&P Saudi Shariah Index; the Jadwa Arab Markets Equity Fund has risen 20.51% compared with a 14.96% fall in the S&P Pan Arab Shariah Index.
Moody’s assigned an Investment Manager Quality Rating of MQ2 to Jadwa, the second-highest ranking on the scale and the first such rating in the Middle East.
