Islamic finance: small market, huge potential

Investors should, however, also consider some of the challenges lying ahead. For instance, institutional investors are usually interested in liquidity-generating products. The Sukuk market, unfortunately, is still a niche sector and depends mainly on private placement arrangements. This is still a young market, spread across many different countries and jurisdictions and lacking a homogeneous structure.

The market has not yet reached the critical mass required to ensure a minimum of liquidity. There seems to be a lack of short-term Sukuk, in particular. Conventional investors use Sukuk to diversify their global fixed income portfolios and, therefore, adopt a ‘buy-and-hold’ strategy.

The asset-backed structure of Sukuk gives comfort to investors looking for a medium-term investment instrument with minimal liquidity and low intrinsic credit risk. This is why the market has so far attracted a very specific investor profile, unlikely to be deterred by liquidity matters.

There have recently been some efforts to increase liquidity and encourage issuers to list these instruments on stock exchanges. We will see if these measures will have any positive impact on market liquidity.

The lack of standardisation is often considered worse than the lack of liquidity. It could reduce institutional investor appetite for Sukuk or sustainable finance products. A good solution is to look at similar markets and learn from their evolution. For example, for the Eurobond market, the standardisation of contracts has proved to be a central element to its smooth development.

The Sukuk market needs more and better standards, but with a balanced approach. One of the main benefits of Islamic finance is its flexibility. Falling into the extreme of too much standardisation could limit this and risk hindering the market’s growth.

A first step could be creating simpler and more uniform documentation. This would help in structuring products and lower the cost for participants. Evaluating the market performance of Sukuk should not be a complicated process. Fintech and digitalization could be a game-changer, bringing automation and efficient processes.

With the standardisation of documentation come transparency and comparability. These elements are essential to build trust in the market and allow investors to make informed decisions.   

Shariah-compliant structures need to be included in the international treaty network, to avoid double taxation. The World Bank and the IMF have already shown their support for Shariah-compliant products as a way of increasing the capital market culture in emerging countries.

The drive for sustainability could help Islamic finance. The green bond market is growing fast and, therefore, promoting the issuance of green Sukuk could be a good way of boosting the sector.

Islamic finance is, however, not without risks. We should pay attention to elements such as risk management, investor compensation schemes, banking supervision or bankruptcy laws, but avoid over-regulation.