On a recent sunny day, Eric Swats, a fund manager at Rasmala Investments, sat under a parasol at a restaurant on the terrace of the Dubai International Finance Center, talking up his new $25 million Rasmala Global Sukuk Fund.
Mr. Swats hopes it will tap into fast-growing demand from Middle Eastern and Asian investors for sukuk, securities that comply with Islamic law. “The market for conservative and well-managed” Islamic finance products is “underserved and underdeveloped,” he said over a lunch of salad and fruit juice.
The Middle East has proved a far tougher environment for financiers than the El Dorado it was imagined to be a few years ago. Bankers learned the hard way during the credit crunch that they could win business only by tailoring their offerings to the region’s specific needs.
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