QInvest and Fortis Bank Nederland today signed a joint venture agreement and each committed US$ 50 million to the QInvest-Fortis Bank Nederland Shipping Fund (the Fund), making it the world’s first Sharia’a compliant ship financing fund.
Jointly managed by QInvest and Fortis Bank Nederland through QF Investment Management, the Fund will soon be opened to third party subscriptions.
The Fund is a Sharia’a compliant investment solution which QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment bank, brings to its investor base in the GCC region, and demonstrates QInvest’s structuring and product innovation capabilities.
QInvest CEO Shahzad Shahbaz said “We are delighted at the success of our tie-up with Fortis Bank Nederland as it has given us a solid platform to give our clients access to the many untapped opportunities in ship financing around the world. Our partner in this venture will add enormous value through their deal sourcing and execution capabilities.
We are proud to be able to leverage our capability to structure Sharia’a compliant tailor made investment solutions which we believe will have strong appeal for both conventional and Islamic investors alike. The Fund will provide attractive, yet secure and stable returns for investors, which gives an opportunity for portfolio diversification, and which capitalises on both a major dislocation in the value of the underlying assets as well as the shoring up of available liquidity in the industry,” Shahbaz said.
Fortis Bank Nederland is at the forefront of the ship financing industry and ranks amongst the most reputable in the market. With more than US$ 7bn of shipping assets under management, Fortis Bank Nederland brings its global relationships and technical expertise to the Fund.
Harris Antoniou, CEO of the Energy, Commodities & Transportation division at Fortis Bank Nederland said “The establishment of the Fund broadens the product offering for our shipping clients. More importantly, it diversifies and increases sources of debt funding available for the global shipping market in an environment constrained by a general lack of available capital. QInvest and Fortis Bank Nederland see an opportunity to structure an exposure to this market that is focused on high quality assets and owners and is Sharia’a compliant.
It reconfirms Fortis Bank Nederland's position at the forefront of developments and innovation in the ship finance market. Moreover, it stresses the future importance of local markets and GCC-EU business links that are also evidenced by our local presence since May 3, 2009.
We are very pleased to cooperate with our partner QInvest to make the Fund a success,” Antoniou said.