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Wealth Management Fund to Target Gulf Women

By Adam Gonn, The Media Line news agency

The Mayfair Wealth Management Company has launched the Ameerah, a service offering advice on Sharia (Islamic law) compliant products and investment strategies for female investors in the Gulf.

The estimated wealth controlled by the target group is $40 billion.

Amani Choudhry, CEO of Mayfair Wealth Management confirmed to The Media Line that Ameerah, meaning princess, is the first fund to specifically target female investors in the Gulf.

The services offered by Ameerah include global property search, international bank account opening, offshore company formations and trust services.

According to Mayfair, there are a growing number of female investors controlling a significant percentage of the region's wealth.

Interest in Sharia compliant banking has experienced a surge following the global economic crisis in which Gulf investors experienced massive wealth erosion.

A study conducted by HSBC Amanah, the institution's Islamic banking division, claimed the more reserved policies of Islamic banks are attracting more assets than banks with higher risk strategies.

According to the survey, the assets of Islamic banks and Sharia compliant divisions of regular banks during 2009 grew to $822 billion.

Their more conservative approach has included guidelines on lending money solely to those backed by collateral and avoiding repackaging debt - one of the main contributors to the credit crisis.

Critics have claimed the Islamic banks' low risk tactics make them less profitable and more expensive to run.

As charging or paying interest is forbidden in Sharia law, banks and prospective property owners set up partnerships to buy a property, before the banks lend it back to the buyer.

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