Meethaq Islamic Banking launches sharia’a-compliant equity fund in Oman

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Muscat – Meethaq Islamic Banking, the Islamic banking arm of Bank Muscat, has launched the Meethaq Equity Fund, a sharia’a-compliant equity fund, in partnership with Bank Muscat’s asset management unit.

The Meethaq Equity Fund is designed to capitalise on the growing potential of the GCC economies, providing investors with a gateway to invest in the fast-growing equity markets.

The initial public offering (IPO) for the Meethaq Equity Fund opened on August 4 and will run till August 15. The initial offer price for the fund will be RO1.010 per unit, including issuance costs.

The Meethaq Equity Fund offers daily liquidity with no minimum holding period. Investors can subscribe to the fund with a minimum subscription amount of RO50. The fund’s net asset value (NAV) will be published daily on the websites of Meethaq Islamic Banking, Bank Muscat, and on Muscat Stock Exchange, allowing investors to track the value of their investments daily.

Meethaq Islamic Banking and Bank Muscat customers who wish to subscribe to this new fund during the IPO can download the subscription form from the respective websites (www.meethaq.om/ www.bankmuscat.com) and submit it to the nearest Meethaq or Bank Muscat branch. Bank Muscat customers can also subscribe to the fund through the internet banking platform of Bank Muscat.

In a press statement, Khalifa Abdullah al Hatmi, Deputy General Manager, Investment Banking and Capital Markets, Bank Muscat said, “The Meethaq Equity Fund offers an attractive investment option for investors to benefit from the investment expertise of Bank Muscat’s Asset Management and the robust sharia’a governance of Meethaq Islamic Banking. Having demonstrated our expertise in developing and managing investor-centric products designed to provide the best investor experience, we are confident that the Meethaq Equity Fund will meet investors’ expectations.”

Ali Ahmed al Lawati, Assistant General Manager, Meethaq Corporate Banking, said, “We are delighted to offer the Meethaq Equity Fund to investors. The sultanate’s equity markets particularly and GCC equity markets generally offer an attractive investment proposition for medium to long-term investors. The fund will provide investors an opportunity to diversify their investments and benefit from growth in the regional markets. Additionally, this offering is in line with Meethaq’s objective to introduce more sophisticated products to meet the growing demand of Islamic structured solutions.”

The objective of the Meethaq Equity Fund is to achieve long-term capital appreciation and dividend distributions by primarily investing in a portfolio of sharia’a-compliant stocks listed in the GCC region. The fund is an open-ended fund registered under the jurisdiction of the Financial Services Authority (FSA).