KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia (ARBM) announced a partnership with Nomura Asset Management Malaysia to increase its shariah investment offering, as part of the Al Rajhi’s ambition to become the number one Islamic innovation bank in Malaysia.

Through this collaboration, ARBM will increase its product diversification, fill product gaps, and increase offerings to meet customers’ demands.

As part of this partnership, ARBM will distribute three Nomura funds, namely the Nomura Global Shariah Semiconductor Equity Fund, Nomura Global Shariah Strategic Growth Fund and Nomura i-Income Fund.

With the funds from Nomura Asset Management Malaysia, ARBM’s customers will have more options for them to meet their long-term financial goals. In addition, with the combination of a global equity fund and a fixed income fund, investors will have the opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios as well.

Customers will be able to purchase the Nomura funds at all Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia branches, starting Oct 21.

Arsalaan (Oz) Ahmed, chief executive officer at Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia, said, “I am delighted with this strategic partnership, as this represents a milestone for the Bank and marks our first partnership with Nomura Asset Management. This collaboration will offer our customers a wider selection of shariah-compliant funds that have been strategically selected for growth based on the digital and Islamic finance trends. More importantly, this partnership will enable ARBM to further expand our product offerings to our clients, in line with the latest market trends and demands in Islamic finance.”

Nomura Global Shariah Semiconductor Equity Fund, launched in July 2022, is for investors who are seeking long-term capital growth and opportunities from companies globally involved in the manufacturing ecosystem of semiconductors that are shariah compliant, with high-risk tolerance.

As for Nomura Global Shariah Strategic Growth Fund, the fund’s objective is to achieve long-term capital growth, primarily through the fund’s investments in foreign shariah-compliant equities, sukuk, Islamic collective investment schemes and Islamic money market instruments.

Furthermore, Nomura i-Income Fund seeks to provide investors with regular income distribution through investments in Islamic deposits, Islamic money market instruments and sukuk.

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia recently celebrated its 15th year anniversary and currently manages around RM30 billion worth of assets under management (AUM) for corporate and retail investors.

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia is part of 14 global offices and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It continues to innovate and offer investors opportunities to invest in assets with strong potential for growth and long runways.

Nomura Asset Management Malaysia’s managing director and country head Leslie Yap said the partnership will bring together Nomura Asset Management Malaysia’s and Al Rajhi Bank’s strengths to deliver value to ARBM’s clients, while expanding Nomura Asset Management Malaysia’s reach to more investors.

“We are proud to bring our shariah funds to more Malaysian investors through the partnership with Al Rajhi Bank, as we continue to improve local investor access and cater to the growing appreciation for Islamic investing. By offering funds with different asset classes, we will be able to provide more investment opportunities for Al Rajhi Bank to diversify their portfolio to meet their long-term financial goals”, said Yap.