About Islamic Investments

For years now, ethical investing has achieved popularity among morally minded investors. Since the ethical standards used to choose investments could be as broad ranging as individuals' values and beliefs, there have been a myriad of investment vehicles created to address the need or desire to invest ethically. However, there appeared to be few investment vehicles based primarily on religious precepts available to the broad public. Muslims were in a dilemma - where could they invest within Islamic guidelines without RIBA while saving tax by contributing to their RRSP or Tax-Free Savings Account or saving for their child's education to get the 20% grant, etc. Since 1995, Jeff (Jaafer) Gareau has been the Advisor that hundreds of Muslim families have trusted across the country from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. For people with less than $250,000 to invest, it was difficult to diversify their portfolios while maintaining strict Islamic investment guidelines but that all changed with the first Islamic Mutual Fund in Canada in the summer of 1999 (SAMI Fund) until November 2006; FrontierAlt Oasis Funds from 2006-2009, and the current largest Islamic Mutual Fund in Canada, the Global Growth Assets Inc. Iman Fund (2009 to current).  Jeff (Jaafer) Gareau has been the documented #1 Advisor in Canada in all of these Islamic Mutual Funds based on assets under administration. All Islamic Mutual Funds are based on very similar criteria as devised by the Scholars of the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index:

1. Investments must be halal - A company cannot be involved in the business of:
   • Tobacco
   • Weapons and defense
   • Alcohol-related consumer products
   • Pork-related products and businesses
   • Entertainment (e.g. casinos, pornography)
   • Usury and interest-generating activity
2. Financial criteria*:
   • All of the following must be less than 33%:
     • Total debt divided by trailing 24-month average market capitalization
     • The sum of a company’s cash and interest-bearing securities divided by trailing 24-month average market capitalization
     • Accounts receivables divided by trailing 24-month average market capitalization
     
     * Based on the interpretation of the Quran and other Islamic texts, Sharia'ah scholars have set forth these guidelines to ensure that companies are not significantly exposed to leverage, and do not derive significant profits from interest-generating activities.
3. Stock selection:
   • UBS Canada selects the best screened stocks (based on Islamic criteria) using a conservative style that preserves capital and invests prudently.