16Feb

Hejaz brings Islamic mortgage to market

February 16, 2021 Ali Ozyon 78

Sharia-compliant financial company Hejaz Financial Services has spent the past year trialling an Islamic mortgage product – the first in the local market – and is close to finalising plans to offer the loan through a mortgage broker.

Hejaz is a diversified group, offering superannuation, investment funds, financial and estate planning and, more recently, mortgages.

The company was started in 2013 and its compliance with sharia law is certified by Global Islamic Financial Services, a South African-based sharia audit, advisory, tax and accounting firm.

Hejaz has been getting around 150 applications for home loans a month from existing clients since it rolled out the product in the middle of last year.

Hejaz chief operating officer Muzzammil Dhedhy said the growth potential is enormous once the product gets onto broker panels (the group Hejaz is working with has not been disclosed).

He said there are around 1.2 million Muslims living in Australia and only an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 use the services of the handful of Islamic financial services providers here.

“Access has been the problem,” he said.

Dhedhy said Hejaz has an Australian Financial Services Licence and all its products are compliant with APRA and ASIC rules. “Sharia is complementary,” he said.

Sharia loans have a different style of contract. It is a facility where equity in the property is shared and the customer buys the financier’s share over time, paying rent along the way.

“The paperwork is different but the loan aligns with standard Australian credit practice,” Dhedhy said.

All products have to be certified sharia. In the case of loans this means they have to be funded from sources that are also sharia-compliant. Funding for the Hejaz loan comes from one of its own investment products.

According to Global Islamic Financial Services’ Guide to Islamic Finance: “Islamic economic activity is regulated by divine injunctions prohibiting interest, speculative behaviour, obscurity, market monopolisation, gambling and trading in unlawful or prohibited commodities and services.”

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29Nov

Islamic fund eyes Coast’s Halal tourism future

November 29, 2019 Ali Ozyon 76

An Islamic fund manager will invest $30 million on the Gold Coast on tourism assets that reflect Muslim cultural values.

Millions of dollars will be invested by an Islamic fund on the Gold Coast to create resorts and accommodation that cater for Muslim tourists.

AN Islamic financial services company will invest millions in the booming Halal tourism sector in Queensland over the next three years with the focus on the Gold Coast. The Melbourne-based Hejaz Financial Services managed diversified Global Ethical Fund aims to spend an initial $30 million in Queensland.

The fund will focus on either new tourism developments or on capital works on existing accommodation sites that will conform to Islamic values in a family cultural context.

This would mean resorts would have access to prayer rooms, offer activities that are exempt from gambling and drinking and provide a range of Halal-friendly restaurants and dining options.

Overseas there are Muslim focused resorts which also feature calls to prayers, separate men and women’s swimming pools and other segregated activities. Queensland tourism surges ahead of biggest rivals

Hejaz Financial Services chief operating officer Muzzammil Dhedhy said Queensland and especially the Gold Coast was appealing to Muslim holiday makers. “We have no property in Queensland as yet but we intend to invest $30 million into Australian Halal tourism infrastructure over the next three years,” he said.” We would look at the Gold Coast because if its weather and geography and we would be focusing on properties of 30 to 40 rooms give or take.

“Our fund is Australia’s strongest performing Islamic investment fund and is growing 100 per cent year-on-year so there will most definitely be more opportunities for greater investment into Halal tourism infrastructure.”

Latest research found the current commercial value of the global Halal tourism market was about $300 billion buoyed by a growing Muslim middle class mostly from the middle-east and south-east Asian countries.

According to Hejaz Australia currently only has as small stake in the growing market.

“Lets say a couple from Dubai want to go on a honeymoon, Australia probably doesn’t come up on the radar,” Mr
Dhedhy said.

“But Halal tourism is growing and we see an opportunity because it satisfies a requirement through our fund but also it provides an outstanding opportunity to participate in the Australian economy as well.”

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