SEI Launches South Africa's First Offshore Multi Manager Shari'ah Funds for Institutional and Retail Investors

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC), the U.S.-based manager of managers, has become the first global investment management firm to launch an offshore range of Shari'ah compliant (compliant with Islamic Law) investment funds for South African institutional and retail investors.

The four Shari'ah funds: the SEI Islamic US Equities Fund, the SEI Islamic European Equities Fund, the SEI Islamic Emerging Markets Equities Fund and the SEI Pacific Basin Equities Fund, are registered with the Financial Services Board and are designed to comply with Shari'ah laws whilst not comprising investment return potential. Each fund holds a certificate of Shari'ah compliance and Shari'ah law is specifically included in the investment objective of each fund, with customised Shari'ah guidelines for each underlying fund manager. The Shari'ah funds are constructed using SEI's manager-of-managers investment philosophy which involves structuring offshore portfolios using multiple managers within each asset class.

The funds ensure Shari'ah compliance in two key ways. Firstly, SEI is advised by a Shari'ah board comprised of three highly reputable Muslim scholars who provide advice on investment objectives, guidelines, contracts and portfolio reviews to ensure strict compliance with Shari'ah. Secondly the funds are benchmarked against the Dow Jones Islamic World Index which covers over 1,600 companies (who are Shari'ah compliant) with a market capitalisation of more than US $9 trillion.

Commenting on the launch of the funds, Russell Bodill, Sales Director, SEI South Africa said:

"These funds were successfully launched in Europe last year and now we have brought them to Africa where we see substantial potential for growth. Offshore investors in South Africa are familiar with the manager of managers concept and have been benefiting from this approach for some time. This is the first time that Muslim investors will be able to take advantage of our internationally-recognised manager of managers program whilst ensuring they still comply with Shari'ah law."

SEI's Shari'ah funds are available to investors through selected distribution partners.

About SEI South Africa

SEI founded its South African business in 1995 and has an established office in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, offering a fully staffed team with wide-ranging expertise. Since its first mandate in 1997, SEI has met the needs of South African offshore investors looking for a world class partner with the resources and experience to add value to their global investment strategies through a manager of managers program. SEI's goal is to build solutions that are structurally appropriate for South African retirement/pension funds and to provide clients with the highest level of service and information to effectively run their retirement fund investments. SEI South Africa is the only offshore manager in South Africa to provide a fully staffed South African office as well as drawing on investment expertise from more than 100 investment SEI professionals around the world. The office includes professionals covering portfolio management and construction, client servicing and communication, legal and compliance, and sales and marketing.

About SEI

SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC) is a leading global provider of outsourced asset management, investment processing and investment operations solutions. The company's innovative solutions help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and affluent families create and manage wealth. As of September 30, 2008, through its subsidiaries and partnerships in which the company has a significant interest, SEI administers $431 billion in mutual fund and pooled assets and manages $162 billion in assets. SEI serves clients, conducts or is registered to conduct business and/or operations, from more than 20 offices in over a dozen countries. For more information, visit www.seic.com.

Shari'ah Investing

Islamic law states an explicit preference for equity financing over debt financing. The classical forms of equity financing (musharaka and mudaraba) require partnership and profit sharing, to which the contemporary devices of venture capital, investment management and project financing can be compared.

In financial markets, investing in stocks and equity funds is permitted but must conform to certain guidelines. Not unlike ethical or socially responsible investing, undesirable companies and industries are screened out on the basis of both qualitative criteria (nature of business) and quantitative criteria (level of involvement with interest). Islamic investment also discourages speculation and precludes short selling, conventional debt instruments and conventional derivatives. These views go back to the prohibition of interest, gambling and certain types of uncertainty in Islamic law.

Conventional debt financing is ruled out in Islamic banking because of the prohibition of interest. Asset-backed debt financing can be designed, however, on the basis of sale (murabaha) or leasing (ijara) contracts that provide fixed income alternatives to conventional debt financing. The capital provider must have ownership of the asset, however (even if briefly), and bear the risk that comes with that ownership. Recently, cash financing (tawarruq) has also been introduced by reversing the concept of murabaha.

    Company Contact:                          Media Contact:
    Frank Wilkinson                           Elisabeth Behr
    SEI                                       Braithwaite Communications
    (610) 676-1483                            (215) 564-3200 x 113
    FWilkinson@seic.com                       EBehr@gobraithwaite.com

SOURCE SEI

Released November 19, 2008