We provide the necessary Shariah Advisory to Islamic Financial Institutions such as Banks, Mutual Funds, Takaful Operators, Brokerage Houses for the development of Shariah guidelines for investments, operations, marketing, banking products, takaful and other products. By employing our services, we essentially liberate the financial institution of its responsibility and need of a Shariah Department.
Shariah Audit
Perform periodic Sharia audit and certification in respect of Sharia compliance, this provides assurance to the stakeholders that their products, services and operations are in line with the requirements of the Shariah. This enhances credibility and in turn ensures an Islamic financial institutions integrity.
Product Development
We offer development of new and innovative products as well as enhancement of the features of a clients’ existing products. We do this by investing in all spheres of product development, whether it’s a detailed and robust evaluation of the institution’s needs, their institutional strengths and competitive advantage or thorough market research, we ensure delivery of a game changing design and implementation.
We offer Shariah Audit and Reviews to mutual funds where we continuously audit and monitor their transactions for compliance and perform periodic Shariah Compliance Screening of their investments. By employing our services, we essentially liberate mutual funds of their need of a Shariah Department. Some of the services that we offer to Mutual Funds include but are not limited to the following;
- Continuous monitoring which involves periodic review of a fund’s transactions.
- Continuous enhancement of Shariah guidelines.
- Screening of Investment avenues which includes periodic review of Shariah Compliance screening of Investments and Identification of purification amounts.
- Shariah Audit and Review which basically includes 2 things. First an annual Shariah audit and continuous review to monitor transactions for compliance. Secondly, Shariah certification on transactions and fund management.
- Shariah Advisory and Consultancy which basically involves continuous input from Shariah Advisor along with meeting and inquiry resolution as and when required.
- Training Services in basic Islamic finance.
We provide sharia advisory for the structuring, documentation and guidance of all types of Islamic funds. With the demand for Shariah compliant financial services growing at a faster rate than mainstream banking. Proper and effective guidelines can play a vital role in helping to develop new procedures and products and help corporations adapt to industry trends and meet customers’ expectations.
Corporate Re-structuring
- We provide guidelines for structuring of all types of Islamic banking, finance and Takaful products and transactions.
- This includes the reorganizing of an institution's structure to make it compliant to the Shariah.
- Restructuring the legal, operational, ownership and other aspects of the institution's business such as financing, contracts, human resource policies, sales agreements, purchase agreements, marketing and so on.
- We not only ensure compliance to the Shariah but also ensure that things are kept in line with the corporate law that is in-force.
Corporate Portfolios
We provide shariah advisory services including development of investment guidelines, periodic shariah audit as well as shariah screening for investments to determine if they are shariah compliant or not for corporate portfolios where companies invest on behalf of their employees, this can be for various reasons and in multiple ways such as pension funds, gratuity or provident funds. These funds provide a regular source of income and allow a retired professional, peace of mind by letting him maintain a living standard. We ensure that the employer who is seeking Shariah Advisory regarding their portfolio management invests in only authorized Shariah Compliant avenues that are approved by the Shariah Board.
Individual Portfolios
Much similar to our services of Shariah Advisory to corporations, we provide similar services to high net worth individuals and retail clients. We ensure whoever intends to invest and is seeking Shariah Advisory regarding their portfolio management invests in only authorized Shariah Compliant avenues that are approved by the Shariah Board.
Financial Structuring
Much similar to our services in corporate restructuring, we also render our services for the financial restructuring of operations and organizations in a way that is compliant with Shariah.
Sukuk Structuring
Sukuk is an extremely viable alternative for mobilizing medium to long term savings and investments from a large investor base, whether this is by structuring the issuance of bonds or simply facilitating the process of structuring a deal that is compliant to the guidelines of Shariah. We provide our advisory services in the structuring of sukuk, this can include multiple responsibilities such as documentation, securitization or any other capital market transactions.
For the various services that we offer, we are constantly in a process of research and innovation that allows us to update and enhance our Shariah Guidelines and always ensure that they are in complete compliance with the Shariah. Whether it be guidelines that regard to our services to the corporate sector or to financial institutions, there is a constant process of research and innovation that improves what we have to offer.
In order for something to be declared Halal it has to meet the pre-requisite standards that are defined in the Shariah, this means that it should meet Islamic dietary standards, should fulfill all administrative requirements, should conform to all documentation requirements, should be able to set up, implement, and maintain Halal Assurance System to sustain Halal status of the product(s) being certified.
Ingredient Verification
All ingredients within a product should be halal and completely secure of the following six categories of items to ensure that they are halal, alcohol, blood, carnivorous animals, birds, dead meat or carrion, immolated Food to other deities other than Allah and swine which is basically Pork and its By-Products.
Process Verification
Haram materials should be avoided at every step of the process which is used to realize the product in question. This includes the various phases such as packaging, storage, transportation, and distribution. Furthermore, it needs to be ensured that apart from use, contamination and cross contamination with haram material(s) must also be avoided at every step of production, storage, and distribution. The overall process should follow Islamic cleaning and sanitizing procedures as well to remove any possibility of un-intended damage to the product in terms of it being halal or not. Integrity of Halal product(s) must be maintained all the way from procurement of raw materials through the production of finished product(s).
Document Verification and SOP definition
Apart from the verification and certification of items and ingredients, we also provide our services to verify pre-certified items and ingredients to ensure their status as Halal is constantly satisfied with the correct processes, and that it is justified with the right documentation. We ensure that the right operating procedures are in place to ensure that an item or ingredient is Halal.
Being a registered corporate distributor from Mutual Funds Association of Pakistan (MUFAP), we play a role of an intermediary between the investors and several well reputed Asset Management Companies and provide investors with a hassle free one window operation for investments in all Shariah Compliant Funds managed leading asset management companies in Pakistan.
The Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) are an ethical set of standardized, industry-wide principles that provide investment firms with guidance on how to report investment performance to prospective clients. The Standards allow firms to compete globally, and provide investors with the ability to make comparisons between investment firms.
To solidify our credentials in this domain, Al-Hilal is partnered with Ashland & Partners LLP. Founded in 1992, Ashland Partners pioneered the GIPS® verification business and remains the largest firm globally with over 700 engagements in twenty-five countries. Ashland Partners is a PCAOB-registered, specialty CPA firm providing due diligence solutions to the financial services industry. Ashland Partners’ hallmarks are innovation and service dedicated to supporting clients as they provide transparency and assurance to their current and prospective clients.
During the verification process, Al-Hilal
- Reviews and tests the investment manager’s GIPS policies and procedures.
- Reviews composite presentations to ensure that all of the required data and disclosures are presented. This will also help to identify areas to address in more detail.
- Review annual returns and composite statistics on GIPS presentations.
- Check calculations.