Kagiso Asset Management (KAM) has recently launched a new Islamic equity fund to increase their unit trust offering to four funds. The new fund, named the Kagiso Islamic Equity Fund, is managed using the same investment process as the award winning Kagiso Equity Alpha Fund.
Since 2001, KAM has established an excellent track record in managing equity portfolios. KAM's proven investment process combines a valuation-based, "bottom-up" stock picking strategy with a data-driven, statistical investment approach.
In particular, the Kagiso Equity Alpha Fund has consistently been a top quartile performing fund since its inception five years ago. Currently Morningstar ranks the fund as the best domestic general equity fund over 5 years and since its inception to 30 June 2009.
The Kagiso Islamic Equity Fund, managed by Abdulazeez Davids, was launched on Monday the 13th of July 2009 and aims to deliver top quartile performance in the domestic general equity category, whilst honouring Shariah investment principles.
Roland Greaver, CEO and founding member of KAM comments "I am confident and excited that this fund will produce superior performance relative to its benchmark and peers."
Davids joined KAM in February 2008 as Head of Research and portfolio manager. Prior to joining he spent 10 years at Allan Gray as a senior investment analyst and portfolio manager of their Namibian and Botswana funds.
Several filtering layers set out by KAM‘s Shariah Board, which include notables such as Sheigh Mohammad Tauha Karaan, Mufti Zubair Bayat and Mufti Ahmed Suliman, will ensure strict Shariah compliance monitored on a monthly basis.
"Transparency of our portfolio holdings will give investors' confidence that this fund is fully Shariah compliant whilst still yielding returns expected from an award winning domestic general equity fund" says Davids.
KAM's Shariah investment principles mean that companies who do not comply with Shariah law (stocks with a primary business involvement in all types of conventional finance, alcohol, pork related products, tobacco and certain entertainment areas such as gambling, pornography, cinema, music and satellite TV) are removed as investment options and the remaining stocks are filtered through a set of financial criteria to ascertain eligibility for inclusion.
Greaver adds "Abdulazeez has, since joining KAM, brought a wealth of knowledge to the investment team and we look forward to seeing him flourish as a portfolio manager for something so dear to his heart".
* Kagiso Asset Management (KAM) is a specialist investment management firm, based in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 2001, the firm manages specialist equity mandates the risk spectrum for many large retirement funds and private investors.
