B&I Capital partners IdealRatings for Shariah Compliant REITs Fund Management services

New alliance between regional REITs Funds Management Company and global Islamic Finance expert produces an enhanced REITs solution for Shariah-compliant investors.

Singapore, June 11, 2014 – B&I Capital AG, a company located in Switzerland with an office in Singapore and IdealRatings Inc. today announced the shariah compliant REITs solution, for Asset owners who are keen on investing in listed REITs companies, which are shariah compliant or ethical in their business operations. For a start, B&I Capital will be managing the Al Salam REITs Fund that has an exposure to a selected number of countries in Asia. Asian REITs haverisen in prominence in the last few years and Middle Eastern Investors are keen to diversify their investments and have exposure to this asset class and region. The Shariah compliant REITs exposure can be extended to Global REITs, given that the IdealRatings screening solution is able to screen for Global Shariah compliant REITs. Using a shariah rulebook, IdealRatings is able to provide 96 global shariah compliant REIT companies from the combined US, European and APAC markets and this provides a broad regional diversification of REITS exposure.

The majority of the REITs have a good and consistent track record of providing dividends ranging from 3 – 8%, or higher, depending on market interest rates and the property market conditions. B&I Capital is an experienced REITs Fund Manager withthe track record to be able to select REITs that will provide the dividend and portfolio performance as well as meet the shariah rulebook.B&I Capital’s deep experience in the REITs industry and IdealRating, the leading vendor for Shariah compliant solutions, complement each other well in this new partnership.

This solution represents B&I Capital and IdealRatings demonstrating their commitment to the Islamic Finance industry by creating a new sector investment into Shariah compliant REITS, which was not possible a few years ago, since Fund Managers were not able to identify the Non-Permissible income from the tenants in the REITs due to data issues and an acceptable financial modelling by Shariah Scholars for Non-Permissible Income. With this solution Islamic Finance Investors are now able to have Shariah compliant Equities, Sukuks and REITs in their overall investment portfolio which is 70% of the investment quadrant, with the final quadrant on Commodities.

IdealRatings CEO, Mohammad Donia quote:

“We are excited to partner with B&I Capital AG to provide the REITs solution for Islamic Finance and for B&I Capital to use this solution for their Shariah Compliant investments in listed REITs for the selected markets. B&I Capital will be able to use the IdealRatings solution for their data on the listed REITs and the Non-permissible income for their selection of the REITs universe. The front and mid office solution provides a market level information for the Fund Manger decisions to buy/sell/hold their investments.” said Mohammad Donia, CEO IdealRatings. “We foresee a huge growth of the Shariah compliant REITs investment globally since it is now possible to have an exposure in this sector which was not possible a few years ago.   Instead of buying a property and managing the property to deliver the returns, Investors are finding REITs an easier vehicle to have an exposure into the property sector and annual getting annual dividend returns.”

B&I Managing Director, Christian Bernasconi quote:

“IdealRatings has exceeded expectation with their sophisticated and user friendly screening tool and research capabilities. Their support staffs are extremely responsive and their analysts go in and contact companies directly to verify earnings contributions and we are impressed by the accuracy.  By utilising IdealRating’s team of analysts to help us with Shariah compliance screening we are able to focus on what we do best: fundamental analysis, stock selection and portfolio construction.  Without this partnership we would have to employ additional analysts to cover the entire universe in Asia. “

About B&I Capital AG

B&I Capital AG is an independent asset manager specializing in Asian real estate investment trusts and securities. The fund management team has combined more than 50 years of experience and is a pioneer in the Asian REIT industry. Headquartered in Zurich with a research office in Singapore, B&I Capital is passionate about the potential of the Asian real estate investment trust potential. B&I Capital is an active member of the real estate securities industry in Asia and often gives advice to regulators, associations and companies on best practices and improvements for the industry. B&I Capital AG is fully licensed by FINMA in Switzerland.

About IdealRatings, Inc.

IdealRatings is a leader in Islamic Capital Markets solution and a trusted data provider for Equities, Sukuk and REITs. Their mid-back office Shariah screening and Purification solution for Equities, Sukuk and REITS are licensed by the leading Asset/Fund Managers globally as well as Stock Exchanges. IdealRatings has partnered Russell Indexes and has launched the Russell IdealRatings Global Islamic Indexes series for Fund Managers to license the indexes for the underlying investments and benchmarking of fund performance.

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