Understanding Islamic Insurance and Investments

This Islamic finance and banking course gives an overview of the basics of Islamic insurance, mutual and investment funds. In this course, you will learn about The Concept of Takaful Ta’awuni (collaborative), The Basis for Takaful, Takaful vs Conventional Insurance, The Tabarru or donation - based Takaful Model. You will also learn about Islamic Perspectives on Mutual Funds and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and Islamic Investment Funds. No previous knowledge is needed. Why Islamic finance is important for the global financial industry Islamic finance has grown rapidly, with the trend expecting to continue. Although the concept has been around for much longer, Islamic finance only attained a formal status in Muslim-majority countries in the 1970s. Today, it has become a global phenomenon, eliciting increasing interest around the world, including from non-Muslim countries like the United Kingdom, Luxemburg, Kenya, South Africa, and Hong Kong. Islamic finance has grown into a huge industry with total worldwide assets estimated at about US$2 trillion. Islamic finance has the potential to contribute to higher and more inclusive economic growth by increasing access of banking services to underserved populations. In addition, it has the potential to promote financial stability due to its risk-sharing feature and its financing being asset-backed and thus fully collateralized. Moreover, Islamic banks offer profit-sharing and loss-bearing accounts that can help mitigate losses and contagion in the event of banking sector distress. These are all indications that Islamic finance is converging to the global finance industry and hence all international finance professionals should be aware of Islamic finance.