The Oasis Global Funds have recently had their rating upgraded to the coveted “AA” rating from Standard & Poor’s Fund Management Ratings. This rating confirms that since their inception the Shari’ah compliant Crescent Global Equity Fund and the conventional Oasis Global Equity Fund have both consistently outperformed their respective benchmarks.
This excellent rating stems from Oasis’ high standard of quality, its meticulous investment process and the consistent management performance, which suggests that the funds future performance should continue to provide consistent returns that are not susceptible to significant market volatility. Both the Crescent Global Equity Fund and the Oasis Global Equity Fund provide investors with exposure to the upside potential of a diversified selection of equities from around the world. The funds are managed by an experienced team of investment professionals who place significant emphasis on managing the downside risk to satisfy the company’s unrivalled investment philosophy of generating superior returns at lower than market risk™. This implies that, “Oasis seeks to identify securities that have an undervalued sustainable cash flow and a diversified exposure to various asset classes to eliminate the inclusion of securities that erode investor capital” Adam Ebrahim, CEO of Oasis Group Holdings.
The Crescent Global Equity Fund and the Oasis Global Equity Fund are subject to highest form of European regulation and are part of open-ended investment companies that are incorporated in the Republic of Ireland and authorised by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority as an undertaking for the collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS). Feeder funds that invest in these global funds have also been registered in Malaysia and in South Africa, and the company expects to release additional feeder funds in other regions in due course. This global expansion has been facilitated by the market’s recognition that Oasis is a manager that provides investors with superior levels of performance, as the Crescent Global Equity Fund and Oasis Global Equity Fund have provided cumulative returns since inception of 93% and 101% respectively .
Oasis has always played a leading role in the Shari’ah investment arena and it will remain a dominant player in this rapidly growing sector as it continues to strengthen its international profile amongst institutional and retail clients. In recognition of Oasis’s contribution to Islamic Finance, the company received the HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Achievement in Islamic Finance in the United Arab Emirates. This is the most prominent award in the global Islamic Finance and was complimented by the recent accreditation of the Crescent Global Equity Fund at a presentation in Bahrain as the best Islamic Global Equity Fund in 2006 by Falaika International (a leading Islamic fund research and consultancy).
Standard & Poor’s is one of the world’s pre-eminent providers of credit ratings renowned for globally recognised indices such as the S&P 500. Their rigorous benchmarks and detailed analysis have ensured that they are recognised as one of the world’s leading rating agencies. The highly stringent five leg-rating process integrates quantitative screening of a fund’s performance, prior background audits and face to face interviews with the Fund Managers. This information is included in a research report that is submitted to the rating committee, who are also responsible for conducting year-round fund surveillance on the top 20% of funds within each investment sector. To receive the esteemed “AA” rating on such stringent rating criterion Oasis has clearly displayed that it has investment resources that are of the highest calibre and that it is able to compete globally.
The recognition of the superior performance of the global funds has occurred at a time when Oasis has been independently rated as being the best unit trust manager in South Africa, which resulted in the receipt of the Plexcrown by Plexus, after the performance of its ten unit trust funds was superior to that of any other manager. These unit trust funds include the Oasis Crescent Equity Fund, which is currently the top performing Shari’ah investment fund in South Africa .
With the aid of this simple illustration an investor can analyse how the Crescent Global Equity Fund has performed relative to its benchmarks. If an investor had invested US$ 1 million in the Crescent Global Equity Fund at the date of inception (Dec 2000), their investment would currently be worth US$ 1.9 million (Chart 1).
Similarly if that investor had invested US$ 1 million in the Oasis Global Equity Fund at inception date (Dec 2000) their investment would currently be worth of US$ 2 million (Chart 2). Equivalent investments in an average global equity fund would have provided a return of US$ 1.2 million. This would imply that the returns that are provided by Oasis are approximately 75% greater than those of the average fund which clearly illustrates the significant wealth creation.
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Oasis Group Background
The Oasis Group is an asset management business with approximately USD 3.15 billion under management. The Group has offices in South Africa (Cape Town & Johannesburg) and Ireland (Dublin), and has a presence in Malaysia (through its joint venture with AMInvestment). Within the next twelve months Oasis will establish offices in the Middle East and is currently seeking regulatory approval in two Gulf countries. The Dublin offices are responsible for the administration of the UCITS compliant investment fund companies (regulated by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority). The company manages assets on behalf of listed and private companies, parastatals, retirement funds, educational institutions, trust funds, collective investment schemes, high net worth individuals and multi-managers. These institutions are located around the world and include those in South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Switzerland, France and Namibia. The Oasis Group has a global research capacity and offers domestic and global collective investment schemes and retail retirement fund products. The Oasis collective investment schemes are divided into conventional funds (Oasis Range) and Shari’ah compliant funds (Crescent Range), while the retail retirement range is entirely Shari’ah compliant. Oasis is regarded as one of the world’s leaders in Shari’ah compliant funds. An independent advisory board has been appointed to advise the investment manager on Shari’ah investment and ethical issues and is responsible for conducting an independent analysis on the fund holdings and investment income to ensure that it is compliant. This distinguished advisory board includes the following members: Shaykh Nizam Yaquby, Professor Mohamed Daud Bakar, and Shaykh Yusuf DeLorenzo, and Mr Mohammed Shaheen Ebrahim (Chairperson of the Oasis Group).
