Australian Islamic wealth manager Crescent Wealth has entered into a partnership with the Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME) to provide Australian retail investors access to Islamic bonds.
Crescent estimates the global Islamic bond market, which provides Sharia'a-compliant fixed income vehicles, also known as Sukuk, at US$150 billion.
The portfolio will be managed by BLME, a leading global provider of Sharia'a-compliant fixed income product and one of Europe's largest Islamic banks.
"Our partnership with BLME ... is significant because it is further evidence that Australia is being taken seriously as a viable growth market for Islamic funds management," Crescent Wealth managing director Talal Yassine said.
"The partnership rounds out Crescent Wealth's Sharia'a-compliant product suite by adding a fixed income option to our existing Australian and global equities, property and cash offering," Yassine said.
"It also gives our investors added confidence that our fixed income option is being managed by the best in the industry," he said.
Crescent Wealth was established in 2010 and has launched an Australian equities fund and a cash management fund.
The firm is also planning to launch an international equities fund and property fund later this year, and combine all of the funds into an Islamic superannuation option.
