BusinessTimes
AMANAHRAYA Investment Bank Ltd (AIB) plans to launch a RM1 billion Islamic fund next year that invests in environmentally friendly projects.
The "green" fund, likely to be the world's first such Islamic fund, will be managed together with Asian Finance Bank Bhd (AFB).
"The focus will be on carbon credit type of projects. We're looking at ethanol plants, waste-recycling plants as well as incinerators, both locally and abroad," AIB director Datuk Mohamed Azahari Kamil said.
AIB and AFB have taken the initiative to design the fund in Malaysia, with hopes that it will attract investors from the Middle East, the US and Europe, he said.
AFB chief executive officer Faisal Alshowaikh said there is already one such fund in the making elsewhere in the world.
As such, the AIB-AFB green fund could either be the first or second in the world, depending on when it will be launched.
The two banks intend to have it launched in the first half of 2008.
Azahari and Faisal spoke to reporters yesterday after the two companies signed a pact to develop a US$250 million (RM853 million) Islamic fund that will invest in ships.
The fund, the first of its kind in Malaysia and the region, will be set up by the end of this year, and is expected to generate an internal rate of return of 12-15 per cent.
The banks have already identified six vessels worth about RM615 million to be injected into the syariah-compliant marine fund. It may add another four to the portfolio, said Faisal.
The portfolio, which is fully investor-managed, will comprise ocean-going and coastal vessels, catering for the oil and gas sector and bulk cargo.
"The fund will provide opportunities for institutional and sophisticated retail investors globally to participate and take advantage of the growth in the marine sector," he said.
Middle Eastern investors will be targeted at a planned roadshow.
The financing structure of the fund, which may later be listed either locally or overseas, will be 70 per cent debt and 30 per cent equity, said Azahari.
Penang Port Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Abdul Latif Abdullah, who has more than 30 years experience in the maritime business, has been appointed chairman of the fund.
AIB and AFB also entered into an Islamic Forward Binding contract yesterday, an Islamic hedging instrument that facilitates futures trading of commodities such as crude palm oil.
"For Amanahraya, this transaction is important in order for us to book in future foreign currency receivables at a favourable exchange rate as part of the hedging mechanism," said AIB chairman Tan Sri Arshad Ayub.
Disclaimer: Reading materials in this site are obtained from its respective website and it is for information purposes only. It is not Malaysia Unit Trusts - administrator view and it is not to be used against Malaysia Unit Trusts - administrator.
