Salam,
We are starting our newsletter, overtime inshAllah we will get to know better what you want to hear about so we can improve with each email we send.
Halal Investing Updates
- Wahed have launched their new ETF
KWIN - The KraneShares Wahed Alternative Income Index. 'KraneShares' is in the name of the fund as they are the company who are implementing the strategy to generate 'Alternative Income'.
The goal of the fund is to generate steady money through the use of derivative contracts, namely options (i think, seems their document isnt too clear). Now as long as ive been aware, derivative contracts arent Halal for most but Wahed have their shariah compliancy certificate on it, so we are going to give them the benifit of the doubt. One key part of derivative contracts being haram is the excessive risk they bring, however the strategy that Wahed and KraneShares are impletmenting is a calculated low risk strategy through 'the combined sale of a call and a purchase of a put'. Rather confusingly they say to executate the strategy, the fund 'holds a long position and simultaneously executed a forward sale on the structure.' Are options being used? For now im not sure, but ill try and get some clarity on that going forward.
To avoid making this section a book, ill stop writing about this now, bar one more thing, the fund has no track record yet, has fees of 0.51% per year, isnt available in the UK yet, and the returns are subject to USD FX moves against other currencies (GBP if you are in the UK) so just like the majority of Sukuk funds, it doesnt really make sense to invest into unless you know what you're doing.
2. Profit rates on Shariah Compliant Savings Accounts Continue to Drop.
What's there to say here? The reality is that rates from these Islamic banks are tied to interest rates, but ill caveat that by saying just because they are tied to interest rates, it doesnt mean its interest. So interest rates are expected to move lower. As for the new low rates, what will i do about it? It is what it is. Money i keep in a savings accounts isnt really for 'growth' its money i need for something soon, any return on it is better than no return. But maybe ill start to kick a few tires elsewhere if the rates continue to drop, maybe the Bayuti Wakala Investment, but its quite new, so im not keen on putting a large amount there, for now.
I think thats all ill write on updates... im consious to not make this newsletter too long, especially if its going to be a regular thing.
Market Updates
Up after a little dip. There was a little dip in the markets over the last 30 days or so, gold and equities took a bit of a hit. But all on its way back up now... Sukuk largely flat, GBP has moved weaker against the USD which is good news for UK investors in US equities and unhedged Sukuk funds. My guess is that your portfolio is doing better than last couple of weeks but maybe not at an all time high.
Maybe you want my oracle opinion (caveat im no oracle, i cannot see into the future). Everyone has their own flavour on investing and what works and what doesnt, for me, for now, I'm a fan of 'the trend is your friend', which is, when a market is trending in a certain direction, it will continue to do so. Because of that, i dont mind buying equities even though they are at a high, or gold, even though its gone up so much this year, or anything else thats gone up a lot. People like to buy things when the price is higher (when it comes to investing) look at bitcoin, look at the queues reported outside gold shops past few months. Thats just humans, so without any further deep analysis, as that would be unsuitable for a newsletter im trying to keep short... ill just say it again. I beleive that the trend is your friend, but im aware that things may go sour at any point, and if things do drop, theyll probably drop quite hard. If youve been invested long enough or intend to invest for the long term, it shouldnt really matter.
Nisba News
New site
We are working on a new desktop website, but we have finished V1.0 of our new mobile link tree type site. It has all our main links on it, you can check it out here! Some cool new stuff we have in the works.
Events
We did a few events past few months, including one at the Amazon Muslim Network, an online event for PA Consulting, and we did our first event for kids. That was fun. If you are looking for speakers at your network/mosque/company, let us know, we are ready!
Coaching
Nisba is changing how we teach people. Moving from a focus on 1on1 coaching to group based coaching. I like the idea of learning as part of a group, maybe making connections with other people in my cohort. So thats what we are rolling out. First group starts on November 20th, lessons are generally weekly on Thursday evenings at 8pm for 6 weeks, theres more to it, but thats the general overview. If youre interested, you can sign up here.
Events
We are booking in a few online free events.
- Intro to Halal Investing, Monday the 17th of November at 9:00pm.
- Shariah Stock Spotlight 2, Monday 25th of November at 8:00pm.
Youtube Videos
We put out a video on the Schorder Actively Managed Islamic Fund
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InshAllah we will be publishing a video on 'is Microsoft Halal to invest into' and our podcast with the HSBC Islamic ETF Head in the coming weeks!
Thats all for now folks!
Jzk
Ahmad & Adel
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