A new Asian real estate fund specifically geared towards Islamic investors has been announced. A strategic partnership between global real estate advisors DTZ Debenham Tie Leung SEA and Nobelis & Co, a Singapore-based financial advisory firm specializing in socially responsible investing, will launch a Sharia'h compliant pan-Asian Real Estate Fund for a leading Middle East investment firm.

The total equity capitalisation for the Fund is S$500 mil. “There are many Sharia'h funds in Asia , covering various investment sectors, this however, is one of the larger funds to be launched in the real estate sector” says Sami Midani, Chief Executive of Nobelis. He further comments that there are plenty of opportunities in the Asian Real Estate market and, as Islamic finance continues to seek growth abroad, clients from the Middle East have pushed for the creation of such funds because they want their assets to be managed along Sharia'h principles and in a socially responsible way.

Mr. Midani points out that Sharia'h investing follows both ethical and socially responsible investment principles that have a large following also in the international investment markets and which is pursued by other major religions, “you can invest in all asset classes except any ownership classes that involve tobacco, alcohol and gambling or other forbidden classes.” According to Midani, the Sharia'h investment universe covers up to 70 percent of the total global investment universe. Investment is done on a similar basis as that of venture capital, with risk/reward shared between both the investors and the fund managers according to their equity contribution to an investment. This fund's future looks promising as the industry is experiencing an annual growth rate of 20 percent and is now worth approximately US$500 bil.