Dubai: Guidance Financial Group specialises in the development and management of alternative investment solutions in the asset classes such as real estate, fixed income and private equity through Guidance Investments Company.
The company acts as a general partner/investment manager in creating and managing Sharia-compliant alternative investments under the Guidance brand.
In addition, it sometimes act as entrepreneur, incubator and accelerator to create and nurture entirely new Sharia-compliant businesses.
“We have a strong network of about 200 institutional and high-net-worth investors from south-east Asia from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei seeking investment opportunities in Sharia-compliant opportunities. There is a shortage of assets to meet the investment demands of this class of investors and this is where we step in with our expertise and geographical reach,” said Dr Hasnita Hashim, chief executive officer of Guidance Investments.
Guidance creates different types of fixed-income assets as a solution to this structural problem. The company offers Sharia-compliant equipment leases through its leasing initiatives; corporate sukuks through capital markets operations; and Sharia-compliant mortgages though international finance operations.
Guidance has worked with ATEL Capital Group to develop US equipment leasing funds since 2010. These funds invest in long-lived, business-critical equipment leased to US Fortune 1000 companies.
From 2013, the company launched a similar equipment leasing fund to invest in a portfolio of high-quality leased assets located in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. These fixed-income assets are sold to conventional and Islamic investors.
The Guidance ATEL GCC Leasing Fund, developed by Guidance in partnership with ATEL Capital Group, is the first of its kind, offering investors exposure to a diversified portfolio of long-life, low obsolescence, business-essential equipment leased to Middle East corporations on long-term operating leases.
The fund is an open-ended, fixed-income fund offering current yield and capital appreciation.
The company also offers broad range of Sharia structuring and placement services to clients who seek to enter or expand their positions in the fast-growing global Islamic finance field. These are mostly conventional fund managers who seek to offer high-quality investment funds in three targeted asset classes such as real estate, fixed income and private equity.
“We advise and often partner with the fund managers in creating and structuring Sharia-compliant funds that parallel their existing funds. We may also assist them in placing these funds within our broad network of institutional and family office investors,” she said.
