Fund manager JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) has launched a global Shariah equity fund.
The Global Select Shariah Fund will join a range of global funds run by the manager that includes Global Select and International Select strategies.
The new fund will be compliant with Islamic Shariah investment principles and will be an Irish domiciled OEIC. It will be managed by Nudgem Richyal.
JOHCM has been managing an institutional Global Shariah mandate since December 2013 and has decided to offer retail investors access to the mandate.
The aim of the fund is to achieve long-term total return from investing in a focused portfolio of global Shariah-compliant securities.
The team invests in a range of global equities but will exclude companies considered to be uncompliant with Shariah investing such as financial services, gambling or defence.
To ensure the fund is fully Shariah compliant JOHCM is using a data screening service and also has a Shariah adviser to the fund.
Fund manager Nudgem Richyal will follow the same investment process as the International Select and Global Select strategies that he co-manages.
The fund will use the MSCI ACWI Islamic Index (net dividends reinvested) as a benchmark.
Mr Richyal said: “I am proud and excited to launch the JOHCM Global Select Shariah Fund. This has been a successful institutional mandate that we have run for over eight years and given growing client demand we felt the time was right to bring it to a wider audience.”
Prior to joining JOHCM, Mr Richyal was investment director within the Global Equity Group at Baring Asset Management and investment manager of several Latin American funds in London. He previously worked at Hill Samuel Asset Management in London and is a CFA Charterholder.