In an Australian first, Hejaz Financial Services, Australia’s leading diversified provider of Islamic financial products and services, has announced the launch of the Hejaz Financial Advisers network dedicated to advising clients on Islamic-compliant investments.

Advisers joining the network will operate under Hejaz’s master license (AFSL) to give Australian Muslims access, for the first time, to a professional financial adviser to help them secure and grow their wealth in a Sharia compliant way.

The network, which will comprise both Islamic and non-Islamic financial specialists, will advise clients on investment products that are aligned to Islamic investment principles and tailored to their individual financial needs.

Hakan Ozyon, Chief Executive Officer at Hejaz Financial Services said, “Muslims are a growing but underserved financial services market in Australia. To date, they have not been able to access specialist advice or products designed to help them achieve their financial goals in a way that reflects their religious faith.

“By establishing a network of advisers who deeply understand the customers they serve, Hejaz is helping to make wealth management more accessible to Islamic communities. We believe we are also setting an example at a time when questions have been raised about how aligned advisers are to their clients’ needs.”

Hejaz expects to recruit up to 50 advisers to the network within 12 months and is seeking to eventually license between 150 and 200 specialist financial advisers.

Among other investments, Hejaz-affiliated advisers will be equipped to advise clients on Hejaz’s flagship Islamic investment products, the Global Ethical Fund and Ethical Income Fund.

The Global Ethical Fund is a multi-asset balanced fund applying a Sharia-compliant strategy that aims to achieve CPI plus a 3% total return per annum. Since inception in 2017, it has returned 6.0% per annum. Established in 2019, Hejaz’s Ethical Income Fund is designed to generate a steady, Sharia-compliant income stream. It has a target return of between 5% and 7% per annum.

Hejaz’s total funds under management (FUM) currently stand at $170 million.

Susan Wolff, an experienced CFO, Operations and Governance Manager, has been appointed to lead the development and growth of the financial adviser network. Ms Wolff has worked previously at Challenger International, IOOF Holdings, Capstone Financial Planning, AMP and most recently, as Chief Operating Officer at MSC Group.

“Hejaz is taking steps to make wealth creation more customer-centric. The market potential here is enormous – Muslim Australians are diligent savers and, given the choice, will always gravitate to financial products that align with their faith and values,” said Ms Wolff, General Manager – Wealth Management at Hejaz Financial Services.

“I am pleased to be joining Hakan and the leadership team as Hejaz continues to create innovative new funds and solutions to everyday problems. A laser focus on what our Muslim and non-Muslim customers are actually looking for is exactly what the industry needs.”

This article was first published in Adviser Voice on 6^th May 2021 and is republished with permission. Click here to view the original article.

A new Sydney dealer group focused on Muslim clients is looking to hire up to 50 financial advisers in the next 12 months, as it nabs MSC Group’s chief operating officer to lead the business.

The full article was published in Financial Standard on 5^th May 2021, written by Kanika Sood, and is republished with permission. Click here to view the original article.

Hakan Ozyon | 13 April 2021

Australia’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in its economy performing better and recovering faster than many other established global economies. Its economic output declined 2.5% in 2020, which was smaller than the 10% drop in the UK, the 5% drop in Canada and the drop of more than 3% in the US. HAKAN OZYON explores.

The Australian government and the reserve bank of Australia took various initiatives to protect the local economy from the adverse impacts of COVID-19. These included and unprecedented quantitative easing program, three interest rate reductions over the course of 2020 to a record low of 0.1% and a government-subsidized wage scheme to keep people in jobs, while home loan borrowers could defer loan repayments to reduce mortgage stress and defaults, while boosting credit activities.

These initiatives have had a positive impact across the broader Australian economy, with some sectors being an exceptions such as hospitality and tourism, while the Islamic financial services industry has also been supported by government initiatives.

In terms of the local Islamic financial services industry, the more established Islamic financial services providers have reported exponential growth in client numbers, investment volumes and home loan enquiries. This is despite government regulations allowing access to pension funds to assist in the recovery of the pandemic.

In the investment space, Islamic investments have performed better than their conventional equivalents due to the diversified nature of the underlying portfolio, with limited exposure to leveraged investments and no exposure to speculative instruments such as derivatives. This has allowed Islamic investors to enjoy healthy gains in their investment portfolios for the 2021 financial year thus far and the signs look positive for further growth in the remainder of the financial year.

As for the Islamic home finance market, it has grown exponentially in the 2021 financial year. Muslim borrowers have proven to be very resilient, reporting only one case of financial hardship during the peak of COVID-19 in 2020. Moreover, lower finance rates have created what many are calling a ‘once in generation’ property boom with many Muslims engaging with Islamic financiers to enter the property market for the first time, while other more seasoned investors are growing their portfolios. Muslim enquiries for Islamic financing increased over 200% over the second half of 2020, with the momentum continuing into 2021.

Considering this growth in demand for Islamic home finance products, Hejaz Group launched a pioneering partnership with one of Australia’s mortgage aggregators, Finsure. This will allow, for the first time in Australia, Islamic home finance products to be offered to clients through a broker channel.

Islamic home finance primarily provides an avenue for younger Australian Muslims seeking to enter the housing market through financial products that align with their religious values. Increasingly, we are seeing Muslim Australians – particularly younger generations – seeking financial products and models that align with their faith, while still helping them reach their financial goals, be it homeownership or wealth creation.

Considering the best interest duty obligations that came into effect on the 1st January 2021, it is more important than ever to clearly demonstrate why a loan product is recommended is in face in a client’s best interests.

Through the partnership between Hejaz Group and Finsure, when a client of Islamic faith approaches a broker seeking an Islamic loan, brokers will be able to look beyond conventional loan products and offer a product that aligns with not only that client’s best interests, but their personal values.

As a further confirmation of the robustness and health of the Australian economy post-COVID-19, the Australian dollar (AUD) rose 10% against the greenback during 2020 to hit a two-year high of 77 US cents on the 31st December amid a broad weakening of the US dollar, while making smaller gains against the pound (up 4.8%) and the Japanese yen (3.1%).

2021 has seen the further strengthening of the AUD, on the back of higher commodity prices, further strengthening the rebound in the resource-rich Australian economy. Hence, the IMF has a forecast growth of 4.5% for 2021.

Hakan Ozyon is CEO of Hejaz Group of Companies. He can be contacted at [email protected]

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