Crescent Wealth launches Islamic cash management fund



In what is believed to be a first in the Australian financial services industry, Crescent Wealth and HSBC have launched an Islamic cash management fund.
The new product, the Crescent Islamic Cash Management Fund, will be open to retail and wholesale investors in Australia and be invested in Australian dollar-denominated Islamic term deposits at HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad, a fully-fledged Islamic subsidiary within the HSBC Group licensed in Malaysia.
The fund is expected to return around 3 to 4 per cent a year.
Commenting on the new product, Crescent Wealth founder and managing director Talal Yassine said the cash fund added an important new dimension to the suite of products Crescent Wealth was making available to Australians wanting to invest according to Islamic principles.
"Cash is a key component of any balanced investment portfolio and there is demand in Australia for a managed cash product that is shariah-compliant," Mr Yassine said.
"The cash fund is an important milestone as we build to the launch of Australia's first Islamic superannuation platform later this year. The prohibition on the earning of interest obviously poses particular constraints on the structuring of cash products for shariah-sensitive investors," he said.
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