Islamic Finance 2.0: One Year Anniversary

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Islamic Finance 2.0: One Year Anniversary(0)

“GOD gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘thank you’?” — Author unknown

I want to thank NST. Islamic Finance 2.0 is one year old.
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SPECIAL COMMENT: Where Are The Islamic Angel Investors?(0)

“Angel investors don’t come with a halo and wings, but they can seem heaven-sent to an entrepreneur struggling to find financing.” - Cathie Gandel.

By Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head Of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters

Malaysia has raised the profile of Islamic finance, Takaful and Halal industry, and, now, she must do the same to venture capital (VC). VC is an important emerging asset class that should contribute to government’s objective of building a knowledge based economy by 2020.
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SPECIAL COMMENT: Islamic Venture Capital - A Distinguishing Factor(1)

By Rushdi Siddiqui, Global Head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters

Failure is a mark of success in venture capital, hence, it is an option with beneficial learning consequences.

Today, Islamic venture capital is a feel-good theory presented at (not many) conferences about the lofty goals of this niche market with the focus on the formalism of structuring and screening. Its impact investing, yet we seem to see it as a cost (at best) and a write-off (at worst).
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SPECIAL COMMENT: Missing Link in Islamic Finance Hubs: Islamic Venture Capital(0)

By Rushdi Siddiqui, head of Islamic Finance, Thomson Reuters

Islamic world defined capitalism in 8th/9th century, but today’s Muslim country’s who have planted the Islamic finance hub flag are missing an important elemaent. The interplay between risk capital and innovative ideas for local benefit. The Chairman of Malaysia’s Securities Commission, Zarinah Anwar, stated in a keynote speech in 2007, ‘…how can Malaysia distinguish itself in the emerging market VC [venture capital] pool? Our belief is that Islamic VC provides that distinguishing factor.’

To date Islamic finance has missed two important opportunities: addressing the ‘have nots’ (micro-finance), and deploying the funds of the ‘haves’ into Islamic VC funds. Yes, VC is labor intensive requiring specialized skills, entails active risk capital as part of portfolio, and a long term play, much like Sukuk in hold to maturity portfolio. Its time for Islamic finance to ‘walk the talk’ of venture capital.
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