Despite a fall in total assets, The Banker's 2015 survey of the Top Islamic Financial Institutions indicates that the market is continuing to move in the right direction, with sharia-compliant institutions improving access to and delivery of services, developing microfinance services, and forming stronger strategic partnerships across Asia.
The past year has seen a number of firsts in the Islamic finance industry, including the first sovereign sukuk from the West. This represents a huge step forward for an industry previously considered niche. Islamic players now must consolidate on these gains by broadening their product offerings, expanding their customer bases and targeting new levels of interoperability with global markets.
The Banker's annual Top Islamic Financial Institutions ranking shows that growth has dropped into single digits for the first time since the ranking began. This, combined with the restructuring of sharia-compliant operations at major players such as HSBC, shows an industry that is entering a new phase of maturity; a phase that is, however, still rich with opportunity.
The Islamic finance industry's growth has continued to defy global economic malaise in 2012. And, with more government interest, increasingly complex products and a large untapped customer base, future forecasts are no longer concerned with the industry's ability to continue growing but instead are focusing on the more complex issue of how it will evolve.
Amid calls for greater reporting transparency and more engagement with the lower end of the economic pyramid, Islamic finance is experiencing a revival. But for sharia-compliant institutions to take advantage of the trends emerging in the marketplace, several key events need to take place.
The sharp fall in Gulf property markets has dampened confidence in a market that many expected to be relatively immune to the global financial crisis. But sharia-compliant assets are still growing, and perhaps tougher times will encourage a more sophisticated industry.