External Advisor

Shariah Advisory

Areca has appointed ZICO Shariah Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (ZICO Shariah) and Amanie Advisors Sdn. Bhd as the Shariah Advisor. ZICO Shariah Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (ZICO Shariah) is the Shariah Advisor to Areca Islamic Cash Fund. Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd is the Shariah Advisor to Areca Islamic equityTRUST Fund.

ZICO Shariah Advisory Services Sdn Bhd

ZICO Shariah Advisory Services Sdn Bhd (“ZICO Shariah”) is a member of ZICO Holdings and is registered by the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”) to advise on sukuk issuances, Islamic funds as well as other Islamic capital market products and instruments. It is also approved by the Central Bank of Malaysia (“BNM”) to provide Shariah advice, Shariah review and Shariah audit services to Islamic financial institutions.

ZICO Shariah has more than 10 years of experience in Islamic finance. Its team members possess Shariah, accounting, business and legal qualifications with over a decade of experience in structuring, drafting, advisory and consultation work in relation to Islamic finance. It provides Shariah advice that is enhanced by practical legal knowledge and insight gained from having worked on major local and cross-border Islamic finance transactions.

Among the relevant experience of ZICO Shariah as Shariah Advisor for Shariah-compliant funds and investments are as follows:

Provided Shariah and legal advice to the Employees Provision Fund Malaysia (“EPF”) on the setting up and operationalization of a Shariah compliant retirement savings scheme which is the first in the world to be established by a sovereign pension fund;
Providing complete Shariah advisory services to the Malaysian largest unit trust fund provider on retainer basis in relation to all its 59 Islamic unit trust funds with a total NAV of more than RM20 billion;
Acting as the Shariah Advisor of private mandate to a fund manager on its sukuk investment fund ensuring the fund structure, operations and investment portfolio are Shariah compliance;
Advised two major sovereign fund managers on the potential restructuring of their savings accounts and offering of new types of accounts geared towards Shariah-compliant savings and investments;
Advised on the issuance of the first corporate sukuk in an ASEAN member country. Provided specialized training for its ministry officials and other industry players on Islamic finance, in particular on sukuk; and
Advised on legal measures to enable Islamic banking and finance in two countries in the CIS region.

Board of Directors

Dato’ Seri Dr. Nik Norzul Thani

Chairperson, Independent Director, Independent Investment Committee Member

Dr. Aida Othman

Director of ZICO Shariah Advisory Services

Ahmad Ab Hamid

Chairperson, Independent Director, Independent Investment Committee Member

Role of the Shariah Advisor

ZICO Shariah is the Shariah Advisor to Areca Islamic Cash Fund (“Fund”). As the Shariah Advisor, the role of ZICO Shariah is to ensure that the operations and investments of the Fund are in compliance with Shariah requirements.

The Shariah Advisor reviews the Fund’s investments to ensure the fund manager has managed and administered Fund in accordance with Shariah principles and complied with the applicable guidelines, rulings and decisions issued by the SC.

For the Fund’s investment in domestic Shariah-compliant equity and sukuk, Islamic Deposits and Investment accounts, Islamic money market instruments and Islamic negotiable instruments, the screening of such investments are based on the “List of Shariah-compliant securities by the Shariah Advisory Council of the SC”, list of sukuk issued by the SC, list of Islamic money market instruments provided by BNM; and list of Islamic Deposits and Investment accounts provided
by the fund manager on a monthly basis as required by the Shariah Advisor to ensure that all placements are in accordance with Shariah. Final responsibility for ensuring Shariah compliance of the Fund in all relevant aspects rests solely with the fund manager.

Responsibilities of the Shariah Advisor

In line with the applicable SC Guidelines, the roles of the Shariah Advisor are as follows:

To ensure that the Fund is managed and administered in accordance with Shariah principles;
To provide expertise and guidance for the Fund in all matters from the perspective of Shariah, including on the Fund’s Deed and information memorandum, its structure and investment process, and other operational and administrative matters;
To consult Shariah Advisory Council (“SAC”) of the SC where there is ambiguity or uncertainty in respect the SC who may consult its SAC;
To scrutinise the Fund’s compliance reports as provided by the fund manager’s compliance officer, transaction reports provided by or duly approved by the Trustee and any other report deemed necessary for the purpose of ensuring that the Fund’s investments are in line with Shariah principles;
To prepare reports to be included in the Fund’s annual reports certifying whether the Fund have been managed and administered in accordance with the Shariah principles;
To ensure that the Fund complies, with any guideline, ruling or decision issued by the SC, with regard to Shariah matters;
To vet and advise on the promotional materials of the Fund; and
To assist and attend any ad-hoc meeting called by the SC and/or any other relevant authority.
To apply ijtihad (intellectual reasoning) to ensure all aspects relating to the operations and investments of the Fund are in compliance with Shariah, in the absence of any rulings, principles and concepts endorsed by the SAC of SC.

Profile of designated persons responsible for Shariah matters relating to the Fund

The designated person responsible for Shariah matters relating to the Fund is Dr. Aida Othman.

Dr. Aida Othman is a Partner at Zaid Ibrahim & Co. (a member of ZICO Law). She is also the director of ZICO Shariah Advisory Services. Dr. Aida specializes in Islamic banking and finance, Islamic capital market instruments and Takaful products and operations. She also advises on Shariah compliance and governance, including on the legal and regulatory framework for Islamic finance. In particular, she has advised on the structure and documentation for Islamic banking products, the legal and regulatory framework for Islamic financial services, structuring and Shariah compliance issues for Sukuk issuance, private equity funds and unit trust funds, Shariah review and Shariah audit of Islamic financial institutions, Takaful products and operationsand Islamic wealth management and planning.

Dr. Aida holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Law & Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University, United States of America. She also obtained her Masters of Law from Cambridge University, United Kingdom and Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Islamic Law (Syariah) (First Class Honours) from International Islamic University, Malaysia.

Currently, she is an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya. She is the panel arbitrator for banking/financial instruments at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC). Dr. Aida sits on the Shariah Advisory Board of HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, and AmMetlife Takaful Berhad. She is also a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), United Kingdom, a member of the Islamic Finance Committee, Bar Council, Malaysia, a member of the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance (ASAS), Malaysia, and a member of the Majlis Agama Islam & Adat Melayu Negeri Perak. Formerly, she was a member of the Technical Working Group on Ethics of the Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Bahrain.

Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd

Amanie is a Shariah advisory, consultancy, training, and research and development boutique for institutional and corporate clientele focusing on Islamic financial services. Amanie is a registered Shariah advisor with the SC. It has been established with the aim of addressing the global needs for experts’ and Shariah scholars’ pro-active input. This will ultimately allow the players in the industry to manage and achieve their business and financial goals in accordance with the Shariah principles. Amanie also focuses on organizational aspect of the development of human capital in Islamic finance worldwide through providing updated quality learning embracing both local and global issues on Islamic financial products and services.

Amanie is led by Tan Sri Dr Mohd Daud Bakar and teamed by an active and established panel of consultants covering every aspect related to the Islamic banking and finance industry both in Malaysia and the global market. Currently the team comprises of eight (8) full-time consultants who represent dynamic and experienced professionals with a mixture of corporate finance, accounting, product development, Shariah law, and education. Since 2005, Amanie has acquired over seventeen (17) years of experience in the advisory role of unit trusts with more than 100 active funds which Amanie acts as Shariah advisor.

The Shariah Advisor is independent from the Manager and none of its consultants are person(s) or members of a committee undertaking the oversight function of the Fund or any other funds managed by the Manager.

Roles and responsibilities of the Shariah Advisor

As the appointed Shariah Advisor for the Fund, the roles and responsibilities of Amanie include:

Ensuring that the Fund is managed and administered in accordance with the Shariah principles;
Perform Shariah assessment/evaluation on constituents of the benchmark index as and when requested by the Manager;
Providing expertise and guidance for the Fund in all matters relating to Shariah principles, including on the Fund’s Deed and Prospectus, its structure and investment process, and other operational and administrative matters;
Consulting the SC who may consult the SACSC should there be any ambiguity or uncertainty as to an investment, instrument, system, procedure, and/or process;
Scrutinising the Fund’s compliance report as provided by the compliance officer, transaction report provided by or duly approved by the Trustee and any other report deemed necessary for the purpose of ensuring the Fund’s investments are in line with the Shariah principles;
Preparing a report to be included in the Fund’s annual reports certifying whether the Fund has been managed and administered in accordance with the Shariah principles;
Ensuring that the Fund complies with any guideline, ruling or decision issued by the SC, including resolutions issued by the SACSC with regard to Shariah matters; and
Vetting and advising on the promotional materials of the Fund.

Profile of designated persons responsible for Shariah matters relating to the Fund

1. Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar

Shariah Advisor/Executive Chairman

Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Amanie Group. One of its flagship companies namely Amanie Advisors, is operating in a few cities globally. He serves as the Chairman of the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) at the Central Bank of Malaysia, the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), Kazakhstan, the First Abu Dhabi Bank (UAE), and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

Tan Sri Dr Daud is also a Shariah board member of various global financial institutions, including the National Bank of Oman (Oman), Amundi Asset Management (France), Bank of London and Middle East (London), BNP Paribas Najma (Bahrain), Natixis Bank (Dubai), Morgan Stanley (Dubai), Sedco Capital (Saudi and Luxembourg) and Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (New York) amongst many others.

Tan Sri serves as the Chairman of Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department [Majlis Agama Islam Persekutuan (MAIWP)]. In the corporate world, he is currently a member of the PNB Investment Committee. Previously, he served as a Board Director at Sime Darby Property Berhad and Chairman to Malaysia Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM). In addition, he is the co-founder of Experts Analytics Centre Sdn Bhd and MyFinB Sdn. Bhd. He also serves as the Chairman of Berry Pay Sdn. Bhd., Data Sukan Consulting Sdn. Bhd., Bio Fluid Sdn. Bhd., KAB Gold Dynamics Sdn. Bhd., BioAngle Vacs Sdn. Bhd., Tulus Digital Sdn. Bhd., and Amanie-Afra Halal Capital Co (Bangkok). He was the former 8th President of the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM).

While in 2014, he received the “Most Outstanding Individual” award by His Majesty, the King of Malaysia, in conjunction with the national-level Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. Under his leadership, Amanie Advisors received the “Islamic Economy Knowledge Infrastructure Award” at the Global Islamic Economy Summit, Dubai 2015, by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Oct 2015. On 13 November 2021, he was conferred the Darjah Kebesaran Panglima Setia Mahkota (P.S.M.) which carries the title of “Tan Sri”. In 2022, Tan Sri Dr Mohd Daud has received the “Royal Award for Islamic Finance 2022” by His Majesty, the King of Malaysia.

He received his first degree in Shariah from University of Kuwait in 1988 and obtained his PhD from University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom in 1993. In 2002, he completed his external Bachelor of Jurisprudence at University of Malaya.

Tan Sri’s first book entitled “Shariah Minds in Islamic Finance: An Inside Story of A Shariah Scholar” has won the “Islamic Finance Book of the Year 2016” by the Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA) 2016. Then, his book on sukuk entitled “An Insightful Journey to Emirates Airline Sukuk: Pushing The Boundaries of Islamic Finance” has also won the “Best Islamic Finance Case 2017” by the GIFA 2017 in Kazakhstan. To date, Tan Sri has been authoring more than 40 books with different genre.

2. Suhaida Mahpot

Chief Executive Officer

Suhaida Mahpot is the Chief Executive Officer for Amanie Advisors in Kuala Lumpur office. She holds a Bachelor of Economics (Islamic Economic & Finance) from International Islamic University Malaysia and a professional certificate of Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA) of AAOIFI.

She joined Amanie in 2008 and was amongst the pioneers in the company. She is a specialist in sukuk advisory and has been advising numerous sukuk locally and internationally. One of the sukuk advised by her together with Tan Sri Dr Mohd Daud Bakar has been awarded as Best Securitisation Sukuk at The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Award (2020). Apart from sukuk advisory, her primarily focus is on Shariah governance, structuring, enhancement and conversion exercises, establishment of Islamic financial entities as well as development of Islamic products. Her career in banking & financial industry started as a trainee under Capital Market Graduated Trainee Scheme organized by the SC.

Prior to joining Amanie, she worked with Affin Investment Bank Bhd since 2006 as an executive for debt & capital markets department. She completed various project financing deals using private debt securities instruments ranging from infrastructure & utilities, real estate, plantation, and many others.