Oasis launches first Shari’ah compliant worldwide fund of funds in South Africa

Oasis Crescent Management Company, a subsidiary of Oasis Group Holdings, has launched the Oasis Crescent Worldwide Flexible Fund of Funds, making it the first South African company to offer a Shari’ah compliant worldwide fund of funds to local investors.

Shari’ah law prohibits transactions that involve interest, gambling, speculation, unethical investment or pornography.

The Oasis Crescent Worldwide Flexible Fund is comprised of underlying funds that are part of the Oasis Crescent range of funds locally and globally. Each of these funds has its own specific mandate and is run by specialist asset managers. The underlying funds comprise of domestic equity, global equity, domestic property, global property, domestic income and global income.

This means that investors in the Oasis Crescent Worldwide Flexible Fund are provided with a balanced exposure to different asset classes and importantly, exposure to both local and offshore markets with greater asset allocation flexibility.

The returns of the Oasis Crescent products have been comparably better to that of their peers, particularly on a risk-adjusted basis. The flagship Oasis Crescent Equity Fund has generated an annualized return of 34.6% since its inception in August 2001 to 31 October 2007. This is in comparison to 20.6% annualized growth in the average general equity fund over the same time period, phenomenal performance and lower than market risk

“While investors can go directly into these underlying funds, the fund of fund setup adds the expertise of asset allocation and weightings for the investor,” says Ebrahim Allie, Head of Gauteng Client Service at Oasis Asset Management. ”The investment manager watches the markets closely and makes purchases into the underlying portfolios accordingly.”

While the exact ratio will vary over time, offshore investments will initially comprise up to 80% of the Oasis Crescent Worldwide Flexible Fund, with local investments making up the balance.

Allie says there are a number of compelling reasons for local investors to diversify a portion of their portfolio into offshore markets. ”The rand is at very attractive levels at present, providing South African investors with a good opportunity to increase their offshore exposure., It is also important that investors protect themselves and maintain diversified portfolios by having appropriate exposure to different geographies and asset classes, thereby reducing there risks.”

Minimum investment

The minimum investment for the fund is a R 2 000 lumpsum or a R300 per month debit order.

Fees

1.5% + VAT (1.71%) annual management fee

4.5% + VAT (5.13%) maximum upfront fee based on a sliding scale.