(EnergyAsia, May 30, Friday) --- A seminar on Japan’s first Islamic Shariah law-compliant fund, which includes several listed oil, gas, chemical and utility companies, held in Singapore on May 26 attracted more than 80 people from the financial industry.

Listed on the Singapore stock exchange on May 27, the ‘Daiwa FTSE Shariah Japan 100’, exchange-traded fund is the joint product of global equity and bond index provider FTSE and Daiwa Asset Management.

Included in this first Islamic fund to be listed in Singapore are three oil and gas companies, eight chemical companies, and two companies serving the gas, water and utility sectors, said Paul Hoff, managing director of FTSE Asia Pacific.

Launched in collaboration with leading Shariah authority Yasaar Ltd, the fund aims to track the performance of the FTSE Shariah Japan 100 Index that measures the investment return of the largest and most liquid companies that comply to Islamic rules. 

Designed to meet the investment requirements of both Islamic and conventional investors internationally, the fund allows investors instant access to the top 100 Shariah-compliant Japanese listed companies as measured by market capitalisation.

Japan’s second biggest asset management company, Daiwa Asset Management, said it aims to expand its equity product portfolio to suit the needs of global Islamic investors with this index.

The seminar also covered topics on the ‘FTSE Japan 100’ index, Daiwa Asset Management’s role in the index and an outlook of the Japanese economy and stock market.

Speakers included Paul Hoff (FTSE), Michihito Higuchi and Masaru Arai (Daiwa Asset Management).
Daiwa and FTSE plan to hold the same seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Hong Kong at the end of the month.

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