February 1, 2015
By Susan Edmonds
New Zealand's first Islamic KiwiSaver fund (click here) has been launched with a promise not to invest in alcohol, Western entertainment or pornography. The Amanah KiwiSaver Plan was registered last year and, ahead of yesterday's official launch, has about 200 members.
It will invest in line with Sharia law, ruling out many investment funds, and also requiring interest "purification payments".
"It's a very back-to-basics investment style," said barrister Brian Henry of Goldman Henry(click here), which operates the fund. "We invest in companies making something people want, real estate that is debt-free, and farming."
Henry said the fund's biggest difference was that it did not deal in interest-based products.
Investors do not have to have any connection to Islam to join the Government-approved fund, but need to know it has an ethical mandate not to invest in companies that produce pork, alcohol, tobacco or pornography. It also avoids derivatives because of the Sharia prohibition on gambling....
Think about that. These are the years of investing in moral stocks, yet, a fund based in Islamic values would be viewed as a threat. There is nothing threatening about it. I suppose very dollar is going to a terrorist, right? "W"rong. That is illegal. This is an investment portfolio providing an option for moral investors. That is all this is.
By Susan Edmonds
New Zealand's first Islamic KiwiSaver fund (click here) has been launched with a promise not to invest in alcohol, Western entertainment or pornography. The Amanah KiwiSaver Plan was registered last year and, ahead of yesterday's official launch, has about 200 members.
It will invest in line with Sharia law, ruling out many investment funds, and also requiring interest "purification payments".
"It's a very back-to-basics investment style," said barrister Brian Henry of Goldman Henry(click here), which operates the fund. "We invest in companies making something people want, real estate that is debt-free, and farming."
Henry said the fund's biggest difference was that it did not deal in interest-based products.
Investors do not have to have any connection to Islam to join the Government-approved fund, but need to know it has an ethical mandate not to invest in companies that produce pork, alcohol, tobacco or pornography. It also avoids derivatives because of the Sharia prohibition on gambling....
Think about that. These are the years of investing in moral stocks, yet, a fund based in Islamic values would be viewed as a threat. There is nothing threatening about it. I suppose very dollar is going to a terrorist, right? "W"rong. That is illegal. This is an investment portfolio providing an option for moral investors. That is all this is.
