Shamil Bank of Bahrain, a leading commercial and investment bank in Bahrain, today announced that almost US$ 35 million has been raised through its 100% capital protected Shamil Navigator Modaraba. The overwhelming response to the investment product reflects strong market confidence in Shamil Bank as an innovator in Sharia compliant investments.

“We had set a target of US$ 20 million to be raised from the investment community, but the results far exceeded our expectations. The overwhelming response reaffirmed our belief in the product and the attractiveness and diversification of its underlying assets”, said Mr. Ahmad Tayara, Head of Investment Banking at Shamil Bank.

The Navigator is a three-year, Sharia-compliant investment product that gives investors an exposure to the best returns achieved on a basket of global Islamic equities and commodities, while ensuring 100% capital protection at maturity. The product differs from other capital protected investments currently available in the market through its ability to “Navigate” between the better of the two performing profiles at maturity (equity overweight or commodity overweight) and to give investors a participation in the best performing profile.

The basket of equities consists of an equally weighted exposure to 18 Islamic stocks selected from the Dow Jones Islamic Index, while the basket of commodities consists of an equally weighted exposure to 4 commodities (excluding gold) and 4 indices. The subscription period was from 28 th May 2007 to 28 th June 2007 .

“As a sign of confidence in the product, Shamil Bank has decided to co-invest, from its own funds, an additional 10% of the total investment capital raised in the Class A investment pool at the close of the subscription period,” said Mr Tayara.

We expect an exciting year ahead as we announce further new products and build a strong pipeline of attractive investment opportunities for our retail investors," he concluded.