INDUSTRI PERBANKAN ISLAM MENGHADAPI KEKURANGAN PAKAR

Di petik dari : http://bicarabisnes.wordpress.com/category/kewangan-islamislamic-finance/
31 Jan 2008

Industri perbankan Islam, yang sedang mengalami pertumbuhan yang pesat kini kemungkinan menghadapi kekurangan pakar. Perbankan Islam yang menumpukan kepada perniagaan tanpa riba dan amalan-amalan yang bertentangan dengan syari’a dijangka mengalami pertumbuhan dalam linkungan 15% hingga 20% setahun. Sektor ini juga diramal oleh syarikat perunding-cara McKinsey & Co akan mencapai nilai asset sebanyak AS$1 trilion menjelang tahun 2010.

Apa yang menjadi kekhuatiran ialah pertumbuhan ini tidak setanding dengan jumlah mereka yang dianggap pakar dalam bidang ini. Menurut Sheikh Nizam Yaqubi, seorang pakar syari’a yang ulung, walaupun lebih ramai tenaga pakar sedang dilatih sekarang ini, tetapi jumlah yang terlibat tidak dapat menampung keperluan ataupun permintaan sejagat.

Pada pendapat beliau, keperluan adalah dalam lingkungan sepuluh-kali ganda daripada tenaga pakar yang akan dihasilkan. Keadaan demikian boleh melambatkan proses pertumbuhan sektor Perbankan Islam ini. Sekarang ini terdapat lebih 300 institusi yang mengamalkan perbankan Islam dan beliau sendiri terlibat dalam beberapa institusi sekaligus.

Sebenarnya, tenaga pakar yang dimaksudkan oleh Sheikh Nizam ini merupakan mereka yang boleh dianggap sebagai para ilmuan yang betul-betul fasih dalam bidang syari’ah dan juga perbankan konvensyenal. Ia memakan masa sekurang-kurangnya sepuluh tahun untuk melatih dan melahirkan sesorang ilmuan. Jika diambil-kira pengalaman yang diperlukan bagi betul-betul mahami selok-belok industri ini, jangka-masa yang diperlukan boleh menjangkau 15 hingga 20 tahun.

Sekarang ini, dianggarkan hanya seramai 50 hingga 60 ilmuan sahaja yang layak untuk menasihati dan menjalankan tugas penyeliaan keatas institusi perbankan Islam seluruh dunia.

Apa yang merumitkan keadaan ini ialah tiada satu-satunya kelayakan sejagat yang boleh diterima dan dianggap sebagai kelayakan yang membolehkan seseorang itu digelar ilmuan dan layak melaksanakan tanggung-jawab tertentu.

Perkara-perkara lain yang boleh menghambat adalah dari segi pelbagai perbezaan pendapat dan pentafsiran yang perlu diambil-kira dalam memenuhi hukum-hukum syari’ah. Oleh kerana pemahaman dan perlaksanaan sistem perbankan memang lumrah menggunakan bahasa Inggeris yang teknikal, ini juga boleh menjadi suatu rintangan kepada sebahagian para ulamak yang kurang fasih dalam penguasaan bahasa Inggeris.

Dalam keadaan dimana hasil yang melimpah berikutan harga minyak yang tinggi, lebih banyak pusat kewangan seperti London, Tokyo dan Hong Kong mengambil kesempatan membangunkan sistem Perbankan Islam mereka sendiri. Sudah tentu keadaan sedemikian akan menambahkan lagi tekanan untuk melahirkan tenaga pakar.

Sailing safely in a choppy market

Chen Huifen
Mon, Jan 28, 2008
The Business Times

LAST week's stockmarket crash and subsequent yo-yo fluctuations of the Straits Times Index (STI) may have caused hearts to flip, but it also highlights the importance of staying calm in adversity.

And if you emerge from that experience realising that you are among those who can't stomach monitoring daily movements of stock markets on your own, then perhaps you could look towards mutual funds or, unit trusts.

What are mutual funds?

Mutual funds are essentially a form of collective investments, using money gathered from many investors, and managed by a team of fund managers who put them into various instruments, including stocks and bonds.

In Singapore, mutual funds are also known as unit trusts, possibly inheriting the term from the British, who emulated the concept of US-originated mutual funds in 1931 with the launch of First British Fixed Trust. Today, there are more than 700 unit trusts available in Singapore.

Franklin Templeton Investments Asia uses an analogy to describe the concept.

"It's like a group of citizens pooling their money together to buy some seeds and a farm owner (asset management company) recruits some professional farmers (a fund manager) to grow these crops," said its regional sales trainer Chris Tse.

"The farmers would find a farm with the right soil conditions (company research) and wait for a suitable weather to put their seeds (investing in the right companies at the right time in anticipation of growth). In order to maximise output, farmers would grow different plants in different seasons (tactical asset allocation)."

Unit trusts are open-ended funds. They are divided equally into units whose price is directly proportionate to the fund's net asset value. There is no limit to the number of shares or units in an open-ended funds, so each time new money is invested, new units are created.

Pluses and minuses

One of the most significant advantages of unit trusts investing is its reach. "In some emerging markets, regulators do not allow foreign individual investors to enter directly into their markets (eg. China, Vietnam, India, Saudi Arabia)," said Mr Tse. "So buying a mutual fund is the only permissible way for foreign investors to take advantage of growth opportunities in that market."

Because each fund invests in a basket of companies, or a basket of financial instruments, unit trusts offer investors an avenue to diversify his portfolio.

"If an investor only had $1,000, and wanted to invest in shares traded on the Singapore Exchange, which are sold in lots of 1,000, then he can only afford to buy shares in one company, or penny stocks that cost below $1," added Mr Tse. "He also puts himself in a position that's more risky as his fortunes then depend on the profitability and returns from that one company."

Unit trusts investors can also leave the research, stock picking and individual trading decisions to the team of professional fund managers manning each fund. That said, having the fund in the hands of professionals doesn't guarantee that it will never lose money. Many technology fund investors are known to have lost money in the post-dotcom boom. Besides, sitting in a car that somebody else is driving may pose a disadvantage. Investors have no control over what stocks or instruments to buy or sell, or the opportunity to compare price-earnings ratios or earnings per share.

Yet to young investors with limited resources, unit trusts are more affordable than blue chips or property. Most unit trusts can be invested for as low as $1,000. They are available through banks, brokerages, financial advisory firms and online distributors such as dollarDex.com, finatiQ and Fundsupermart.

Unlike stocks whose prices move throughout a trading day, the price of a unit trust is quoted only once a day, after the value of the holdings is calculated. Hence a particular unit trust can only be traded once a day.

In terms of performance, there is wide disparity. There are those that shine and others that swim in the red. Rating agencies like Morningstar, Lipper and S&P offer qualitative and quantitative ratings on funds based on their return and risk levels. Their prices (net asset value) may also be found in The Business Times' Unit Trusts and Funds table. Past performance is, however, no guarantee of a fund's future success. Franklin Templeton's Mr Tse, however, recommends an investment period of at least five years, for a fund to reap good returns.

The most mind-boggling part of unit trusts is perhaps the multiple layers of fees. There is an initial upfront sales charge of up to 5 per cent when one buys into a unit trust. Fund managers also charge an annual management fee, usually up to 2.25 per cent. In some instances, there could also be service fees, maintenance fees or performance fees incurred.

With so many fee types, is there enough left in the capital to make money from unit trusts investing? Young Investors Forum will delve deeper next week.