Bahrain-based Tharawat Investment House (Tharawat), an Islamic investment institution based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced five percent profit returns of Tharawat Sukuk Fund for the period from January to June 2012, achieving a cumulative return of 17.4 % since its inception in February 2010. Tharawat said it would distribute around four per cent for the period, making it the fifth time of such distribution.
Tharawat Sukuk Fund is the first open-ended Sharia’a compliant investment product based in the Kingdom of Bahrain. It invests over 70% of its liquidity in Governmental issued Sukuk and in well established firms in the GCC, Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia region. It is worth mentioning that Franklin Templeton is the Fund Adviser, while Gulf Custody Company is the Fund Administrator, Registrar, and Custodian.
“Despite all the unusual conditions experienced by the global and regional markets throughout the last four years, Tharawat announces the distribution of 4% profits out of the first six months performance of 2012,” Arif Mohammad Al Alawi, Tharawat Chief Executive Officer, said.
“Such profits which exceeded 5% in the first half of this year, reflects the strong performances of both, Tharawat Investment House and the portfolio. This is an indication of the sound strategy pursued by the portfolio to preserve capital and to generate high returns for investors by means of buying Sukuk on the primary and secondary capital markets,” he added.
“We have promised our investors who have expressed faith in our first investment product, and still, that we anticipate achieving higher profits in the second half of 2012, particularly that Tharawat Sukuk Fund returns, outperformed most of the competitors in the region,” Al Alawi said while reiterating on the integrity of the Fund.
The Sukuk Fund targets high net worth individual and corporate investors, who are seeking higher yield investments than the low and medium risk bank deposits. It is considered as a unique opportunity of investment in this product since Sukuk are highly efficient, fast growth assets and ideal for fixed income and secure assets.
“Tharawat Sukuk Fund pursues a conservative and effective risk management and investment policy as the Fund assets are carefully selected by international investment experts, and are adequately audited by the Sharia’a Supervisory Board. Furthermore, the effective management and the Fund specific investment policy limit the level of risks pertinent to the issue or the issuer; thus it is also an opportunity to gain a regular investment income, based upon Fund distributions.”
“The Fund is regarded unique in comparison with other investment funds in terms of the many core features that include full compliance with Islamic Sharia’a, and simple exit rules on monthly basis without any charges or concealed terms. Additionally, the Fund offers investors the option to receive distributions either in cash, reinvest the returns in additional units of the Fund, or both,” he said.
“Although the primary geographical parameters of the Fund include Sukuk of governments and major firms in the GCC, Middle East and North Africa, and Southeast Asia regions; the Sukuk of governments, sovereign funds, and reputable corporates constitute approximately 95% of the total investments portfolio; while more than 50% of the Sukuk are rated between A and AAA”.
Since the launch of Tharawat Investment House in the Kingdom of Bahrain on 1st June, 2008 under Category (1) Islamic Investment Company license it has been operating under the supervision of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), and seeking to offer an array of investment products that mostly target the markets of GCC member-states and Islamic countries focusing on the investment in industrial, agricultural and service sectors, yet with a lesser focus on real estate investments.