Kuala Lumpur, 15 January 2016 – The Islamic Wealth Management Report 2016, produced by Islamic finance advisory firm, Edbiz Consulting has recognised Labuan IBFC as the leading Islamic wealth management centre.
The survey which reached more than 10,000 respondents globally was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards Islamic wealth management in order to better understand the demand for Shariah compliant wealth management services within the investing community and their clientele.
The research was part of the co-branded Islamic Wealth Management Report 2016, which was launched recently.
The launch of this report is timely as the number of Islamic high net worth individuals looking for Shariah-compliant types of investment is growing and Islamic wealth management is fast becoming the new frontier for the Islamic finance industry. According to Thomson Reuters, 84% of the total Islamic assets under management were held in eight countries, with Saudi Arabia and Malaysia accounting for 69% of the total in 2014.
Labuan IBFC’s CEO Danial Mah Abdullah said “The growing investor demand and awareness, coupled with evolving market dynamics have created a greater demand for Shariah compliant solutions. Hence this report is indeed timely”.
“Malaysia is recognised as one of the most developed jurisdictions in Islamic financial services, boasting a comprehensive regulatory framework for Islamic banking, finance, takaful as well as asset management. As an extension of this, Labuan, as Malaysia’s international business and financial centre is a natural choice for Shariah compliant wealth management solutions” he added.
Mah cited the Islamic Private client Foundations and the Waqf Foundations as clear examples of unique solutions only available in Labuan IBFC. “The Labuan International Waqf Foundation, is the only such private client structure which takes into account the need to ensure the element of Waqf is satisfied in succession and legacy planning,” he added.
Labuan’s leading role in Shariah compliant wealth management is substantiated in the ‘Knowledge, Attitude and Practice’ chapter of the report, which included a survey on the appetite and understanding of Islamic wealth management.
The study stated “Although a small fraction of the survey respondents use Islamic wealth management services offered by Swiss banks and financial institutions, 54% of them have heard of Labuan and it being a centre of excellence for Islamic wealth management”.
Those who preferred Labuan as the most trusted jurisdiction indicated Sukuk, Islamic wealth management structures, conventional wealth management structures, takaful, Islamic banking and Islamic funds as the services for which Labuan is known for.
"With the increasing number of Muslim individuals and families appearing in the global wealth list and growth in Islamic financial assets, it is not unrealistic to assume that there is an increase in Islamic wealth globally. It is, therefore, high time that a Report is now available which should assist the players to narrow the demand supply gap", said Professor Humayon Dar, Chairman of Edbiz Consulting.
The report which includes an extensive array of thought leadership articles on Islamic wealth management is available for download at
www.labuanibfc.com.