National Bank of Kuwait launches Islamic fund  

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) announced Sunday the launch of the first edition of its Islamic Ijara KD series, Islamic KD Ijara Fund I.

In a press release, NBK said the fund was created to grant NBK Private Banking clients the opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of leasing contracts that were structured according to the principles of Islamic Shariah.

The release quoted NBK Capital's Managing Director of Asset Management Nabil Maroof as saying that the fund was launched owing to the success of previous NBK Ijara US Dollar funds due to their reliable monthly returns and relatively low risk.

"The fund is entirely compliant with the laws of the Islamic Shariah as approved by the independent Shariah board for Islamic funds marketed by NBK in Kuwait, comprised of Sheikh Dr. Khalid Mathkor Al-Mathkor, Sheikh Dr. Essa Zaki Shakra and Sheikh Dr. Abdul Aziz Khalifa Al-Qassar," he pointed out.

He said the fund is denominated in Kuwaiti dinars and that the minimum investment in the fund is KD 30,000 with multiples of KD 10,000, adding that the fund's term is 5 years with 2 one year extensions and is expected to make monthly distributions of 6.5 percent per annum.
The offering period will start on June 1, 2009 and will ends on June 28, 2009, he noted.