ICD And Saturna Sdn Bhd Launch Sustainable Islamic Fund

Fund Enhances Shariah-Compliant Portfolio With Added Sustainable Aims

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank, and Saturna Sdn Bhd (Saturna), a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-based Saturna Capital Corporation, announce the launch of the ICD Global Sustainable Fund, designed for professional and individual investors who seek to align their investment goals with social values and responsible capital. The launch of the fund contributes towards wider product sophistication and offerings and enhances Malaysia's position as the marketplace of innovation, expertise and deal flow. ICD serves as one of the Fund's seed investors and advisor, while Saturna is the Fund's investment manager. 

In partnering with Saturna, member of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) community, ICD will be drawing upon the investment manager's 27 years of expertise in global values-based investing and its experience in managing the US-based Amana Funds, the world's largest Islamic equity funds open to public investors, as well as the Saturna Sustainable Funds. Both sets of funds have been recognized by rating agencies for having portfolios with the highest scores on sustainability.

Under normal conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equities of global issuers that demonstrate sustainable characteristics. Saturna considers issuers with sustainable characteristics to be those that are generally larger, more established, consistently profitable, and financially strong, and with robust environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies. The firm uses a proprietary ESG rating system to identify issuers with sustainable characteristics.

As a result of Saturna's innovative approach, investors can buy the Fund with NO sales charge, paying only low administrative fees (among the lowest in Malaysia and GCC) and transparent distribution fees. In accordance with Islamic investment principles of profit and loss sharing, the management fee of the Fund is performance-based.

"Islamic investing principles already incorporate many aspects of broader sustainable practices," said Monem Salam, president of Saturna Sdn Bhd and portfolio manager of the new Fund. "Saturna is honored to partner with ICD in expanding Islamic investment choices that put even more emphasis on the principles of responsible finance and sound ESG practices. Saturna has long believed that employing sustainable criteria can offer investors attractive growth with lower risk, and, increasingly, academic studies confirm the efficacy of sustainable investments."

The CEO of ICD, Mr Khaled Al Aboodi commented: "We are pleased to partner with Saturna to launch the Sustainable Islamic Fund which will respond to the growing demand for responsible investment vehicles. By joining hands, we can better combine our expertise and commitment to achieve greater economic prosperity for the benefit of all. We have every confidence that this fund will meet the investors and societies expectations."

About the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector

ICD is a multilateral organization and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. The mandate of ICD is to support economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its member countries through providing financing facilities and/or investments, which are in accordance with the principles of Shari'ah. ICD also provides advice to governments and private organizations to encourage the establishment, expansion and modernization of private enterprises. ICD is rated AA/F1+ by Fitch and Aa3/P1 by Moody's. For more information visit www.icd-ps.org

About Saturna Capital Corporation

"Values-Based Global Asset Managers"

Saturna Sdn Bhd https://www.saturna.com/ssb, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saturna Capital that specializes in Islamic-compliant investment advisory services for individuals and institutions. It acts as a sub-advisor to the Crescent International Equity Fund, managed by Crescent Wealth, Australia's first Islamic wealth manager.

Saturna Capital Corporation https://www.saturna.com/, established in 1989 in Bellingham, Washington, USA, is a private, employee-owned, investment adviser with US$3.3 billion in assets under management, providing investment advisory services to mutual funds, institutions, businesses, individuals, and endowments.

Saturna Capital is adviser to the Amana Mutual Funds (Amana Growth Fund, Amana Income Fund, Amana Developing World Fund, and Amana Participation Fund) that follow principles of Islamic finance.

Saturna Capital is also adviser to the Saturna Investment Trust, consisting of the Saturna Sustainable Funds (Saturna Sustainable Equity and Saturna Sustainable Bond) the Sextant Funds (Sextant International, Sextant Growth, Sextant Core, Sextant Bond Income, Sextant Short-Term Bond, Sextant Global High Income), and the Idaho Tax-Exempt Fund.

ABOUT MALAYSIA'S ISLAMIC FINANCE MARKETPLACE

Since its introduction more than 30 years ago, Islamic finance in Malaysia has developed into a comprehensive and sophisticated Islamic finance marketplace. The marketplace is characterised by a robust regulatory, supervisory, Shariah and legal framework, a deep primary market and active secondary sukuk market, diverse players and talent base with global capabilities and connectivity for business deals anywhere in the world, product innovation, breadth and depth and an efficient system for multi-currency clearing and settlement. Malaysia's Islamic finance marketplace is open to global industry players and market participants to collaborate with and mutually benefit from a highly conducive business environment of innovation, expertise and deal flow.

Our marketplace is a comprehensive Islamic finance ecosystem and business environment of infrastructure, innovation, expertise and deal flow, served by the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) Community, comprising the financial institutions, professional firms, regulators and government agencies.

For more information on Malaysia's Islamic finance marketplace, please visit www.mifc.com, follow us @MalaysiaIF (twitter), Malaysia World's Islamic Finance Marketplace (linkedin) and download MYIF app at Apple Store and Google Play.