Islamic structured products gain credibility in Asia

The global financial crisis may prove to be a blessing in disguise for Islamic structured products providers in Malaysia, as demand for low-risk, sharia-compliant products is outpacing demand for conventional structured products.

It is no secret sharia-compliant products have universally weathered the global financial crisis in better shape than their conventional counterparts due in large part to more conservative structuring and the absence of leverage. That is not to say performance has not suffered – as equity markets dropped, so did the returns investors received on their investments – but Islamic investors have been spared the losses that have crippled structured products markets elsewhere across the region.

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