Brisbanes Hyperion AM unveils Shariah-compliant Australian equity fund in Bahrain

The Hyperion Australian Equity Islamic Fund, as it is called, is being managed in Australian dollars and reported in US dollars, and has been approved by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the market’s regulator.

The investment team  of Hyperion, which calls itself a “growth-style manager”, has worked together since1997, Hyperion said in a statement announcing the new fund. It said the fund’s Shariah advisers are Malaysia-based Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar and Bahrain-based Sheikh Nizam Yaquby.

Stephanie Brown, managing director of Codexa Capital, which has been involved in helping Hyperion to structure and market the new fund, said it was Hyperion’s first foray into Bahrain, and that for now, it is being run out of the Bahrain office of its administrator, Apex Fund Services.

She describes it as applying "a Shariah-compliant screen to an existing high-conviction core portfolio of publicly-listed Australian equities, managed for absolute return", with a pro forma based on retroactive application of screening to an existing Hyperion portfolio. The details of the portfolio’s contents are being provided only to serious prospective investors, though she said it is "concentrated" and includes companies "from a wide range of industries".

Codexa Capital chief executive Douglas Clark Johnson said one of its attractions to Gulf investors was “as a China play, [but] with more regulation and transparency”, owing to Australia’s significant export exposure to what is now the world’s second largest economy.

“The Australian stock market is the second largest in Asia outside Japan, exceeding [those of both]  China [and] India,” he added.

What is more, “unlike many developed nations, Australian avoided recession during the global financial crisis, [and] is expected to sustain 3% to 4% annual GDP growth over the next several years”. 

As defined by Bahraini authorities, expert investors must be individuals and institutions that have at least $100,000 in financial assets. Governments and similar organisations may also invest in Bahrain funds intended for expert investors.

More information on the fund and Hyperion may be found at its website, www.hyperionbsc.com.