Mutual Funds are groups of stocks and other investment
instruments (Bonds, Certificate of deposits, ...etc.)
managed by a "professional" and pooling
money from thousands of investors and leveraging the
aggregated amount of the pooled money in buying stocks
and bonds.
Any Mutual Fund
falls roughly into one of two categories (as below).
Before you invest in a fund, you have to know which
type it is, and whether that type is suitable for your
goals:
- Income
Funds
These aim to provide the investor with a regular
income (monthly/quarterly) by investing in
securities that provide income (e.g. dividend
paying stocks, ...etc.). The appreciation of
capital is of secondary importance (if at all).
- Growth
Funds
The main aim of this type of fund is to grow the
capital invested by appreciation of the undelying
securities, and not to provide any annual/quartely
income.
| Advantages
of Mutual Funds |
The ideas behind
Mutual Funds is very good indeed.
- Spread the
risk by diversifying the portfolio. If one
instrument (e.g. Stocks) or sector (e.g.
Transportation) falters, then the hit to the
overall portfolio is minimal.
| Disadvantages
of Mutual Funds |
Despite their
perceived benefits, Mutual Funds have several
drawbacks.
- Can incur
huge costs in fees and commissions, unless you are
buying a No-Load Mutual Fund.
- Historically,
they have under performed the stock market. The
best strategy (for a non-Muslim) is to buy an
Index Fund (one that tracks a major market index,
such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average - DJIA
or the Standard and Poor 500 -S&P 500.
- You have no
say in where your money is being invested. Some
Islamicaly prohibited investments can be made
without your knowledge. (Banks, Tobacco, ...etc.)
In addition to
all the above, even if a fund starts out with all
Islamicaly Correct® components (very
rare), the managers of the fund reserve the right to
(and often do) change the fund components over time,
as a response to market changes.
- Dow
Jones Islamic Fund
- Azzad
Funds
The Azzad Family of Halal Funds consists of two
mutual funds and two private investment funds. A
professional team of experienced portfolio
managers incorporates Shari’ah-based criteria as
they try to identify promising securities for the
Azzad portfolios. They include:
·
Azzad/Dow
Jones Ethical Market Fund, an enhanced index fund
based on the extra liquid version (IMXL) of the Dow
Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIMX)
·
Azzad
Income Fund, invests in equity income securities.
·
Azzad’s private investment funds, the Azzad
Growth Funds, are available to accredited investors
and invest in small-cap stocks.
Azzad
offers several retirement savings accounts and
college savings plans. In addition, investors can
meet with a representative to learn how the Azzad
Funds can supplement their investment portfolios by
calling 866-862-9923, www.azzadfund.com.
- Amana
Mutual Funds Trust
They offer two Mutual Funds (Growth and Income)
operating according to Islamic Principles, with an
Islamic Advisory Board.
On their web site, you will find:
You can check
their current price and last daily change, with
links to further analysis:
- Amana
Income Fund: AMANX
- Amana
Growth Fund: AMAGX
- Wright
Islamic Equity Investment
Their objective is to "provide competitive
Shari'ah compliant investment returns utilizing a
globally diversified portfolio of high quality
equity investments rigorously screened for
Shari'ah compliance. The minimum account size is
500,000$, so they are geared more towards
institutional investors or Very High Net worth
individuals. They follow the Dow
Jones Islamic Market Index principles and
Sharia rules.
- Halal
Mutual Investment Company
Is a Bermuda company, but based in U.K.
- Miraj
Global Equity Funds
Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with
representatives in Dubai, U.A.E, and Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia.
- Failaka
Investments Inc.
Used to operate a Mutual Fund like arrangement,
but have recasted themselves as Islamic Equity
Researches.
| Islamic
Mutual Fund Monitoring |
In the U.S.A, Morning
Star publishes performance data of the various
Mutual Funds that are available for investors in the
U.S.A. Their data is available on most investment
sites such as Quicken.
Failaka
is a a Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. company with an
office in Kuwait. They monitors the performance of
many Islamic Mutual Funds worldwide.
You can check:
Data for 1998 is
also available, so you can check it if you are
interested in comparing year-to-year performance.
| Other
Social / Ethical Funds |
You can also,
further look into the Ethical / Social Funds
which often have very good ethical causes, but most
often would invest in Islamicaly prohibited
components.
These include:
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