Muzzammil Dhedhy

Hejaz Group, Australia’s leading Islamic Finance provider, has announced the launch of its new product, Hejaz Islamic Super and Pension. This marks the first time an Islamic account-based pension has been offered to Australian consumers directly.

Hejaz Islamic Super and Pension offers three investment options—growth, balanced and conservative—through a streamlined application process. Customers can apply and be onboarded via the online member portal in approximately two minutes, with greater flexibility and control over investment options during different life stages (including during accumulation and pension phases). Hejaz Group previously offered access to its Sharia-compliant superannuation products as advised products only.

Following Hejaz Group’s recent $10 million strategic investment in Islamic Bank of Australia, the availability of the new Hejaz Islamic Super and Pension product furthers the company’s ambition to provide an end-to-end wealth service for all Australian Muslims and other customers with shared ethical values.

Muzzammil Dhedhy, COO at Hejaz Group commented on the launch: “Superannuation is fundamental to ensuring a comfortable retirement but we realised that there wasn’t a Sharia account-based pension fund available to Australian Muslims. This can be particularly frustrating for large organisations that want to do the right thing and make sure all of their employees have access to ethical superannuation options.”

“We’ve made it easy and hassle-free to set up an Islamic super account and account-based pension that aligns with members’ beliefs and values. Under each of the three investment options on offer, we’re targeting returns which match industry benchmarks. We emphasise the importance of not disadvantaging those who choose to align their investments with their faith and values.”

With an average 120 members being onboarded to Hejaz’s existing superannuation products via advisers per month, many customers have already expressed interest in the new direct-to-consumer Hejaz Islamic Super and Pension offer. Equity Trustees will be trustee for the Hejaz Islamic Super and Pension offer, while Acclaim Management Group is the Administrator; and AIA Australia Limited is the Insurer.

Andrew Godfrey, Executive General Manager, Superannuation Trustee Services, Equity Trustees said: “It’s clear the Hejaz team is committed to developing innovative, faith-based customer-led financial solutions and they have created the Hejaz Super and Pension offer to meet a need in the Australian Muslim community. We’re pleased to facilitate the launch of this new product by applying our specialist trustee and governance expertise.”

Hejaz currently has $1.3 billion in funds under management and advice. Its Global Ethical Fund is Australia’s largest standalone Islamic fund, while the Hejaz Equities Fund (ASX:ISLM) and Hejaz Property Fund (ASX:HJZP) were the first Islamic finance products to be listed on the ASX.

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Muzzammil Dhedhy

Hejaz Financial Services, Australia’s leading Islamic finance provider, has announced that four of its funds have been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).

RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program is the leading initiative for distinguishing quality responsible, ethical and impact investment products in Australia and New Zealand. RIAA sets strict criteria for certifying investment products, helping provide consumers with the assurance that an ethical or responsible investment product is doing what it claims to do.

Regardless of their faith, retail investors increasingly want to see a reflection of themselves in their investments. RIAA consumer research shows that 89% of Australians and 83% of New Zealanders expect their investments to be made responsibly and ethically, while 4 in 5 Australians are now expecting investment products to be verified as delivering on their promise by an independent certifier.^[1]

The certification of Hejaz’s funds cements its position as one of Australia’s leading ultra-ethical fund managers and investment product providers. While Hejaz’s mission is to enable Australian Muslims to access traditional financial services that they are typically excluded from, it also wants its products to be taken up by non-Muslim investors seeking to avoid greenwashed products.

The four funds certified by the RIAA are:

• Hejaz Global Ethical Fund – Hejaz’s flagship fund and Australia’s largest single standalone Islamic fund
• Hejaz Equities Fund – A Halal equities fund targeting 15% p.a. return net of fees. Now available as an ETF (ASX:ISLM)
• Hejaz Property Fund – A fund that applies Shariah investment principles to globally listed REITs, targeting 10% p.a. net return of fees. Now available as an ETF (ASX:HJZP)
• Hejaz Income Fund – Australia’s highest returning Islamic Income Fund

Muzzammil Dhedhy, COO at Hejaz Financial Services commented “Australians want to see themselves reflected in their choices, whether it be their investments, their clothing manufacturers, or food suppliers, social responsibility and values-based living is become increasingly prevalent. But there are a lot of imposters out there that are labelling their products ethical when in fact they are anything but.

“Hejaz’s mission is to not just enable financial access for Muslims but also provide non-Muslims with ultra-ethical products that they can trust. That’s why it was so imperative for Hejaz to gain certification from the RIAA, Australia’s leading responsible investing certification body, to ensure that our investors know that when they invest in a Hejaz product, they can count on not being a victim of greenwashing.”

In order to become RIAA certified, financial products must adhere to strict criteria, set out in the RIAA’s Certification Program. The eight requirements are:

• investment strategies are formal, disclosed, consistent, auditable and fit for purpose
• labels are clear, honest and not misleading
• product avoids significant harm
• product accounts for environmental, social and governance factors
• discloses full holdings, performance, sustainability outcomes and engagement and voting practices
• managed by active stewards, and managers can detail the stewardship practices and outcomes
• organisation has formal commitment to responsible investment
• organisation provides educational information to members and customers about responsible investment strategies and investment outcomes

Simon O’Connor, CEO of RIAA, commented: “RIAA’s Responsible Investment Certification Program differentiates quality, true to label responsible investment products which meet the Responsible Investment Standard. We congratulate Hejaz Financial Services for meeting the high benchmark set for Certification for four of its funds.”

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[1] https://responsibleinvestment.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/RI-Certification-Program-Quick-Guide.pdf

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Muzzammil Dhedhy

Hejaz Financial Services has launched two of its leading funds – the Hejaz Equities Fund (ASX:ISLM) and Hejaz Property Fund (ASX:HJZP)— as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Units in the two funds commenced trading on the ASX yesterday.

In an Australian first, Hejaz is providing Muslims and other ethically conscious investors greater access to two of its Sharia-compliant funds in a popular investing format they are already familiar with. Both Funds refrain from investing in activities which are considered to be morally or socially injurious and in companies which primarily operate in such sectors (i.e. tobacco, gambling, adult entertainment, conventional banking and insurance, pork, and weapons).

The Hejaz Equities Fund (ASX:ISLM) is a growth fund with exposure to a diversified global equities portfolio of Sharia Compliant investments. It invests primarily in developed markets around the world, primarily Europe, North America and selected Asian markets, including Australia. The Hejaz Equities Fund aims to achieve a total return equal to movements in the MSCI World Islamic Index Benchmark. The Fund targets a 15% p.a. return net of fees and currently has $70m under management.

The Hejaz Property Fund (ASX:HJZP) applies an ethical overlay to invest in globally listed REITs. Like the Equities Fund, Sharia investment principles are applied as negative screens to exclude investment assets based upon the nature of their business activities and their failure to meet financial thresholds relating to debt, liquidity, and income. The Fund targets a 10% p.a. return net of fees and is benchmarked to the MSCI World REITs Index. The Hejaz Property Fund currently has $10m under management.

The two funds are aimed at creating a positive impact and building wealth for members without negatively impacting society.

Muzzammil Dhedhy, COO at Hejaz Financial Services commented on the launch: “While Islamic ETF products are widely available overseas, this will be the first time Islamic Finance products are listed on the ASX. By making it simple for retail investors to access our award-winning funds, we are taking an important step towards our goal of providing high-performing, ethical financial products to Australian Muslims. Hejaz is also planning to launch a third ETF before the end of the year, providing retail investors with greater access to the Hejaz Income Fund, Australia’s highest returning Islamic Income Fund.”

Equity Trustees has been appointed Responsible Entity (RE) for the two ETFs, while Macquarie Securities Limited is involved in the launch as the market making agent.

Russell Beasley, Executive General Manager, Corporate Trustee Services at Equity Trustees said: “We are excited to be involved in the creation of Australia’s first Sharia Compliant ETFs and look forward to applying our funds governance expertise to both. We congratulate Hejaz Financial Services on delivering this milestone, and for their initiative in servicing an important, growing segment of the market.”

Hejaz’s total funds under management (FUM) stand at over $285 million, as at July 1 2022.

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Muzzammil Dhedhy

Equity Trustees has been appointed Responsible Entity (RE) for three Sharia Compliant funds spanning equity, property, and fixed income asset classes, launched by Australian based investment manager, Hejaz Asset Management.

The Hejaz Equity Fund aims to match the returns of the iShares MSCI World Islamic UCITS ETF through exposure to a diversified equities portfolio of Sharia Compliant investments. The Hejaz Property Fund seeks to replicate movements in the MSCI World REITs Index through exposure to a diversified portfolio of Sharia Compliant REIT investments. The Hejaz Income Fund’s objective is to achieve a total return equal to the Bloomberg AusBond Bank Bill Index plus 2%, through exposure to a diversified portfolio of Sharia Compliant fixed income investments.

Russell Beasley, Executive General Manager, Corporate Trustee Services, Equity Trustees said: “We are delighted to have been selected to undertake the responsible entity role for this range of funds from Hejaz who are part of a broader specialist Sharia Compliant financial services group.”

“We congratulate Hejaz Asset Management on the launch of these three funds and look forward to applying our well-established experience of funds governance to them,” said Mr Beasley.

Muzzammil Dhedhy, Chief Operating Officer at Hejaz Asset Management said: “Equity Trustees has been invaluable in helping us set up and launch these funds for Australian investors. In addition to dealing with funds governance matters, they efficiently supported the preparation and issuing of the three compliant product disclosure statements.

“We believe these three funds offer additional ‘positive impact’ benefits above and beyond returns by incorporating ethical foundations based on achieving prosperity and providing Sharia compliant investments for fund members.”

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Muzzammil Dhedhy

Hejaz Financial Services’ Global Ethical Fund is now available on HUB24, making it the first ever Islamic superannuation product to be available on both HUB24’s IDPS and Super investment menus.

This comes at a time when consumer demand for Sharia-compliant financial products and services is rising. Recent research from Hejaz found that 36 per cent of Australian Muslims store considerable cash savings at home due to a lack of financial products that fit with their faith. This large addressable market is compounded by broad consumer demand for ethical investment products.

Though Hejaz’s Global Ethical Fund, advisers will be able to connect customers with an ultra-ethical product that has returned an average of 12.10% p.a. gross over the last 3-years.

“Our vision is to provide world-leading financial products to Australian Muslims to help them grow their wealth in a way that doesn’t compromise their faith. Because many lack access to Islamic finance products, or are completely unaware of them, making the fund available on HUB24 is a major step towards giving Australian Muslims the tools to suitably manage their wealth.” said Muzzammil Dhedhy, COO at Hejaz Financial Services

“Furthermore, accessing Hejaz’s Global Ethical Fund via HUB24 enables advisers to better serve a community of 1.2 million people who are traditionally great savers and will be looking to access a range of services, from superannuation to personal or commercial property purchases.” he added.

Hejaz Finance already has around 6,500 customers directly or through intermediaries, with 400 accredited mortgage brokers. It is working with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority towards its goal of becoming the first Islamic financial service provider to obtain a banking license.

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Chris Deakin

Hejaz Financial Services, a leading Australian Islamic financial services provider, has today announced the appointment of Chris Deakin to the newly created role of Sales Director. With immediate effect, she is responsible for leading the sales practice and overseeing the company’s anticipated growth to $100 million funds under management as Australian Muslims take up the opportunity of sharia-compliant financial products in 2022.

Chris joins Hejaz Financial Services from LUCRF Super where she was most recently Executive Manager, Distribution. She brings more than 30 years of financial and business development experience to the Hejaz leadership team, having previously worked at IOOF, First State Super, Health Super and Superpartners. Chris engages with workplaces, platforms and Licensees, community organisations, Islamic schools and businesses to educate the market about the holistic Sharia-compliant financial products and services on offer.

A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Chris contributes to the advancement of the wider financial services industry. She has served as the National Board Director of the Victorian branch of Women in Super (WIS), a national advocacy and networking group for women employed in the superannuation and financial services industries, as well as an Expert Advisory Committee member at Superfriend, supporting the organisation’s contribution to the mental health and wellbeing of Australia’s workforce.

Chris is currently the Chair of Board of Directors at Banyule Community Health—a not-for-profit community health organisation that services some of the most disadvantaged people in the community. She is now using her financial services and social justice experience to improve the financial wellbeing of the community.

“While Chris’ commercial acumen and background is nothing short of impressive, it was her values and passion for social inclusion that stood out to us. A significant portion of Muslim Australians do not engage with the financial system because traditional banking products fail to address their religious needs, so we want to get the word out that alternatives exist.”

“Hejaz has doubled in size over the past 12 months fuelled by demand from Muslim Australians for sharia-compliant investment products. At our current growth rate, we’re expecting to add more than $100 million to our funds under management in 2022. We are delighted for Chris to join the team and continue to build towards our goal of becoming the country’s first Islamic bank – helping overlooked and often unbanked Australians grow wealth and accomplish their goals through best-in-class financial products,” said Muzzammil Dhedhy, Chief Operating Officer at Hejaz Financial Services.

“Demand for financial products that are tailored to people’s values is rising. Hejaz is at the forefront of this movement, creating first-of-their-kind Sharia banking alternatives that enable Muslim Australians to achieve their aspirations without compromising their faith. I am excited to be joining an organisation that is both helping customers and shifting the industry conversation forward,” said Chris Deakin, Sales Director at Hejaz Financial Services.

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