Investing in Faith - Islamic Investments

Date
22nd October, 1930-2130

Objective
A practical guide to Shari'ah compliant investments available today.

Topics Covered included:
- Mortgages and Property Investing
- Stocks and Shares
- Tax-Efficient Savings (ISAs and PEPs)
- Pensions
- Insurance

This event was co-organised and co-hosted by Fyshe Crestar (www.fyshe-crestar.co.uk).

Speakers
Dr Hardeep Tamana, Fyshe Crestar Asset Management, (www.fyshe-crestar.co.uk).

Venue
Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Room 230, Reading University, Reading.

Event Review
This topic is always a challenging one to discuss. The debate about whether or not it is better to utilise the imperfect Islamic Finance solutions that have been developed to date or it is better to do anything, provides a constant ideological back-drop to a discussion about ‘practicable’ solutions. And so it proved the case with our event.

The event began with an overview of the investment areas Islamic financial solutions are currently available. Discussion then turned to mortgages, and the differences between conventional style mortgages and the new types of mortgages that are described as Islamic. There was much debate about whether or not such mortgages were actually Islamic in reality. Whilst we reached no conclusion on this, it highlighted the point that people must make a choice about doing something vs doing nothing. The fact that some shari’ah boards have approved these products whilst others have not, does not help provide any clarity.

The second half of the discussion was refocused to talk about what products do exist for those who want to utilise them. Dr Tamana talked about options in mortgages, stock market investment funds, hedge funds, insurance and savings accounts. There was also discussion on grass-root type schemes such as the Reading Savers Credit Union (www.readingcreditunion.co.uk).

All in all, the event provided a practical guide to shari’ah compliant investments that muslims can take advantage of. Their suitability however remains a matter for individual choice, due to the ideological debates involved. People walked away more informed than before, and that in itself was positive.

Useful Links
- www.fyshe-crestar.co.uk

-For a quick overview of Islamic Economics, please click here.

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