KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC) has been recognised as a leading Islamic wealth management centre.

In a statement today, Labuan IBFC said close to 55% of all respondents regarded it as a leading Islamic wealth management provider in a survey by London-based Edbiz Consulting.

The survey, which reached more than 10,000 respondents globally, was aimed at assessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards Islamic wealth management in order to better understand the demand for Shariah compliant wealth management services within the investing community and their clientele.

“Although a small fraction of the survey respondents use Islamic wealth management services offered by Swiss banks and financial institutions, 54% of them have heard of Labuan and it being a centre of excellence for Islamic wealth management,” the study stated.

Those who preferred Labuan as the most trusted jurisdiction indicated sukuk, Islamic wealth management structures, conventional wealth management structures, takaful, Islamic banking and Islamic funds, as the services for which Labuan is known for.

The research was part of the co-branded Islamic Wealth Management Report 2016, which was launched recently.

Labuan IBFC said the launch of this report is timely, as the number of Islamic high net worth individuals looking for Shariah-compliant types of investment is growing and Islamic wealth management is fast becoming the new frontier for the Islamic finance industry.

“The growing investor demand and awareness, coupled with evolving market dynamics, have created a greater demand for Shariah compliant solutions,” said Danial Mah Abdullah, Labuan IBFC’s chief executive officer.

“Malaysia is recognised as one of the most developed jurisdictions in Islamic financial services, boasting a comprehensive regulatory framework for Islamic banking, finance, takaful, as well as asset management.”

“As an extension of this, Labuan, as Malaysia’s international business and financial centre is a natural choice for Shariah compliant wealth management solutions” he added.

According to Danial, the Islamic Private client Foundations and the Waqf Foundations are clear examples of unique solutions only available in Labuan IBFC.

“The Labuan International Waqf Foundation, is the only such private client structure which takes into account, the need to ensure [that] the element of Waqf is satisfied in succession and legacy planning,” he added.

“With the increasing number of Muslim individuals and families appearing in the global wealth list and growth in Islamic financial assets, it is not unrealistic to assume that there is an increase in Islamic wealth globally,” said Professor Humayon Dar, Chairman of Edbiz Consulting.

According to Thomson Reuters, 84% of the total Islamic assets under management were held in eight countries, with Saudi Arabia and Malaysia accounting for 69% of the total in 2014.