AMANIE ADVISORS SDN BHD

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. It has been established with the aim of addressing the global needs for experts and Shariah scholars' pro-active input. One of the first global boutique Shariah advisory houses for Islamic Finance, Amanie was founded in 2005 by internationally renowned Shariah scholar Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar. The company is led by Datuk 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 Shariah law, corporate finance, accounting, product development, and education. Amanie is also a registered Shariah Advisers (Corporation) with the Securities Commission. Since 2005, Amanie has acquired fourteen (14) years of experience in the advisory role of unit trusts and as at the LPD we have advised more than 170 funds locally and globally.

The Shariah supervisory Board members for Amanie are:

1. Dr Mohammed Ali Elgari (Chairman)
2. Datuk Dr Mohd Daud Bakar
3. Dr Muhammad Amin Ali Qattan
4. Dr Osama Al Dereai

The following persons are the executive level within the Shariah Adviser who are responsible for the Fund are:

1. Ainul Azura Zakiyudin; and
2. Amran bin Ibrahim

The profiles of the Shariah Advisers of the Funds are as follows: Shariah Supervisory Board Members DR. MOHAMED ALI ELGARI

Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari is a Professor of Islamic Economics and the former Director of the Centre for Research in Islamic Economics at King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia. Dr Elgari is the recipient of the Islamic Development Bank Prize in Islamic Banking and Finance and holds the KLIFF Islamic Finance Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Islamic Finance (Individual).

He is a member on the editorial board of several academic publications in the field of Islamic Finance and Jurisprudence, among them Journal of the Jurisprudence Academy (of the IWL), Journal of Islamic Economic Studies (IDB), Journal of Islamic Economic (IAIE, London), and the advisory board of Harvard Series in Islamic Law, Harvard Law School.

Dr. Elgari is also an advisor to numerous Islamic financial institutions throughout the world and is notably on the Shariah board of the Dow Jones Islamic index as well as a member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy and the Islamic Accounting & Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institution (AAIOFI). He obtained his PhD in Economics from the University of California, USA.

DATUK DR MOHD DAUD BAKAR

Datuk Dr. Mohd Daud Bakar is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Amanie Group. One of its flagship companies namely Amanie Advisors, is operating in few cities globally. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Shariah Advisory Council at the Central Bank of Malaysia, the Securities Commission of Malaysia, the Labuan Financial Services Authority, the First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Permodalan Nasional Berhad. He 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), Oasis Asset Management (South Africa), Noor Islamic Bank (Dubai), Morgan Stanley (Dubai), Sedco Capital (Saudi and Luxembourg), and Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (New York) amongst many others.

In the corporate world, Datuk sits as a Board Director at Sime Darby Property Berhad and a member of the PNB Investment Committee. He was recently appointed as a Chairman to Malaysia Islamic Economic Development Foundation (YaPEIM). He is also the third Chair Professor in Islamic Banking and Finance of Yayasan Tun Ismail Mohamed Ali Berdaftar (YTI) PNB at Faculty of Economics and Muamalat, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). In addition, he is the co-founder of Experts Analytics Centre Sdn Bhd and MyFinb, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Malaysian Business.

In 2016, he received the "Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution for Shariah Leadership & Advisory" at London Sukuk Summit Awards and "Shariah Adviser Award" at The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Award. 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.

Prior to this, Datuk was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the International Islamic University 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.

DR. MUHAMMAD AMIN ALI QATTAN

Dr. Qattan is a highly regarded Shariah Scholar and is currently the Director of Islamic Economics Unit, Centre of Excellence in Management at Kuwait University.

Not only is he an accredited trainer in Islamic Economics, he is also a lecturer as well as a prolific author of texts and articles on Islamic economics and finance. He also serves as the Shariah advisor to many reputable institutions such as Ratings Intelligence, Standard & Poors Shariah Indices, Al Fajer Retakaful amongst others. He obtained B.A. Islamic Economics from Al-Imam University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Ph.D. Islamic Banking from Birmingham University, United Kingdom.

DR. OSAMA AL DEREAI

Dr Osama Al Dereai is a renowned Shariah scholar and has extensive experience in teaching, consulting and research in the field of Islamic finance.

Dr Al Dereai is a Shariah board member of various financial institutions which include the First Leasing Company, Barwa Bank, First Investment Company and Ghanim Al Saad Group of Companies amongst others. He received his B.Sc. Hadith Al Sharif, International Islamic University of Medina, MA from International Islamic University Malaysia and he also holds PhD in Islamic Transactions from University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Executive Level

Ainul Azura Zakiyudin is the Chief Operating Officer of Amanie Advisors Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia office. She holds Bachelor of Law (Honours), MARA University of Technology Malaysia and was admitted to Malaysian BAR as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Courts of Malaya in 2000.

Azura joined Amanie Advisors (Kuala Lumpur) in 2013 and has been involved in various product structuring, development and enhancement of Shariah compliant products. She has also involved in providing Shariah advisory services for issuance of sukuks, conversion exercises, establishment of Islamic financial business, establishment of Shariah compliant products for non-financial business, Shariah monitoring and compliance review for financial institutions and asset management companies. Prior to joining Amanie, Azura was an in-house legal adviser in PLUS Expressways Berhad (PLUS), where she received wide exposure in corporate legal work and involved directly in the issuance of several sukuks, restructuring of sukuk and other corporate exercises initiated by the company.

Amran Ibrahim is a Senior Consultant with Amanie Advisors Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia office. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) Finance from Mara University of Technology Malaysia. He started his career in CIMB Islamic with the Business Financing & Investment Department. In 2006, he joined the Product Development Department and was responsible for research, design, development and launching of competitive Islamic banking products.

Prior to joining Amanie, Amran was with Cagamas Berhad, the National Mortgage Corporation of Malaysia as Assistant Vice President in the Islamic Business Department. He was actively involved in the issuance of sukuk as well as conceptualisation and development of new Islamic financial products.

Roles, Duties and Responsibilities of Shariah Adviser The role of the Shariah Adviser is to ensure that the operations and investments of the Fund are in compliance with the Shariah requirements. The Shariah Adviser shall provide the followings Shariah advisory services:

1. Advising on all aspects of ETF and trust management business in accordance with Shariah principles;
2. Providing its Shariah expertise and reasoning on the Shariah-compliance of the Fund in the Shariah pronouncement with regards to the structure, creation and redemption of the Units in the Fund, as well as trading of the Units in the secondary market;
3. Providing expertise and guidance for the Fund in all matters relating to Shariah requirements, including the Deed, the Participating Dealer Agreement, Liquidity Provider Agreement, the Prospectus and the Custody Agreement and the Gold Provider Agreement, its structure and investment process, and other operational and administrative matters;
4. Ensuring that the Fund is managed and operated in accordance with Shariah principles, relevant SC regulations and/or standards, including resolutions issued by the SC’s Shariah Advisory Council and Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) Shariah Standards on Gold;
5. Preparing a report to be included in the Fund’s interim report (if any) and annual report certifying whether the Fund has been managed in accordance with Shariah principles for the financial period concerned;
6. Reviewing the Fund’s compliance report, investment transaction report and any other report deemed necessary for the purpose of ensuring that the Fund’s investments are in line with Shariah requirements;
7. Consulting the SC where there is any ambiguity or uncertainty as to an investment, instrument, system, procedure and/or process in relation to the Shariah requirements; and
8. Assisting and attending to any ad-hoc meeting called by the SC and/or any other relevant authority.

The Shariah Adviser shall meet with the manager from time to time should the circumstances require, and in any event, at least once a year to review and advise on the Fund’s operating procedures and investments o be compliance with Shariah principles.

The Shariah Adviser shall conduct an annual Shariah audit, which includes site visits to ascertain the Custodian’s safe-keeping of the Gold Bars and prepare an annual Shariah audit report in the Funds compliance status for the financial period concerned which to be included in the Fund’ annual report.