Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), in targeting global investors with its Islamic financial services, has set up Maybank Islamic Asset Management (Maybank IAM) company in London.

Maybank IAM’s CEO Azmeen Adnan said the company aims to become a key player and catalyst in the development of the global Islamic asset management landscape.

“Our unique and core expertise lies in our strong on the ground presence in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia that focuses on Asian investments,” Azmeen said in a press release yesterday.

The company now offers a fixed priced Shariah real estate backed fund, the Amanah Hartanah Bumiputra, which has gained popularity among investors for its innovative features, attractive and consistent payouts. In addition, it is managing direct equity portfolio mandates for haj funds and direct mandates investing in Asean countries.

Collectively, a total of US$8 billion (RM25.17 billion) worth of Islamic assets under management resides within Maybank.

Indonesia, which is Maybank’s latest addition to the asset management family, presents an enormous potential given it is the largest Muslim country and home to 12.7% of the world’s Muslims, Azmeen said.

He said the group will undertake a stringent and thorough Shariah screening of its investment process.

“With this internationalisation of the Shariah screening methodology, the competitiveness of the Islamic fund management industry is further enhanced, and we do expect a spur of Islamic fund inflows into the region,” said Azmeen after the launch of Maybank IAM at the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in London on Tuesday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak.

Maybank IAM is owned by Maybank through Maybank Asset Management Group Bhd, the holding entity for the group’s regional asset management and private equity businesses.

Maybank Asset Management Group CEO Nor Azamin Salleh, who oversees and heads the regional asset management businesses of Maybank, said the group has and will continue to play a pivotal role in elevating the significance of Islamic finance globally.

“Maybank Group, through Maybank Islamic (Bhd)’s capabilities and laurels, is well recognised as the leading Islamic banking player in Asean for both retail and corporate banking. In addition to that, Etiqa Takaful under the Maybank Group is also one of the largest players globally,” Nor Azamin said.