Awards - HSBC Amanah named Best Sukuk House in Euromoney's Islamic Finance Awards 2009

Published: 25 February 2009

HSBC Amanah has won three major awards in Euromoney's Islamic Finance Awards 2009, reflecting HSBC Amanah's leadership in Islamic finance.

Best Sukuk House

Euromoney said, "In 2008, HSBC Amanah continued to mark itself out from the competitors in the sukuk market as it pushed forward with six new and innovative deals despite difficult market conditions."

For this award, Euromoney highlighted a number of HSBC Amanah's 'stand out' deals:

• Sabic's SAR5 billion (USD1.3 billion) deal - the first riyal sukuk in 2008 and the largest
• In the Saudi market, HSBC also bookran the largest ever unrated sukuk entirely distributed within the kingdom
• In Malaysia, HSBC Amanah was behind the largest ringgit-denominated sukuk issued in 2008 and the largest commodity murabaha sukuk in the ringgit market. The bank was also bookrunner on the first and largest project financing sukuk

Best Fund Manager

Euromoney said, "HSBC Amanah continues to be the leading Islamic fund manager, with about USD4 billion in assets under management. The group holds the funds in 24 different mutual funds in several different geographies including the GCC countries, Egypt, Lebanon, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the UK. Hong Kong was also added to this list in December 2007 with the launch of the first Islamic investment fund."

For this award, Euromoney highlighted HSBC Amanah's innovation in this market:

• The only fund manager to offer equity funds based on an active quant investment strategy with the help of in-house expertise from active quant specialist Sinopia Asset Management
• The first to introduce investment-linked deposit products in the Middle East
• The first to launch investment-linked takaful products in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia

Best Takaful House

Euromoney said, "SABB Takaful has grown impressively in the past 12 months in Saudi Arabia. Since inception in July 2007, the insurance provider has taken SAR180 million (USD48 million) in contributions, with 80 per cent coming from family takaful products."

For this award, Euromoney highlighted its Simple Savings Takaful Plan as being the product that makes SABB Takaful stand out from its competitors. It said, "This leading product allows clients to save a small amount regularly, while offering protection against unforeseen circumstances."