Investment manager Argyll Investment Services has launched the World Shariah Funds PCC, a Guernsey-based suite of Islamic-compliant investments which will be listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange and distributed globally.

The World Shariah Funds have brought together three Islamic investment teams within a single fund structure.

Reliance Asset Management (Malaysia) has USD4.3bn assets under management, while the south-east Asian CIMB Principal Asset Management Berhad has USD6.85bn assets under management, and Markaz of Kuwait has USD2.2bn assets under management.

This is the first time they have come together in a single offering and strict criteria have been applied to the selection of the companies whose shares are held within the funds. These specifically exclude, among others, companies dealing in alcohol, pornography, tobacco or those with highly leveraged balance sheets.

From a basket of Shariah-compliant companies, a selection is made of those whose earnings are most likely to exceed the market average and the result is an actively-managed portfolio intended to outperform an Islamic equity index.

Stuart Place, marketing director at Argyll, says: “Following the first phase of the world credit crisis investors are more wary of holding heavily indebted companies in their portfolios. The filter process for the World Shariah funds eliminates such businesses as non-compliant under Shariah principles.”