1. OVERVIEW OF THE SUKUK MARKET, FORECAST STUDY IN 2015
Redha Al Ansari
Senior Islamic Capital Markets Specialist
Thomson Reuters

2. The Supply & Demand of Sukuk
Sukuk Market Characteristics

3. THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR SUKUK
Demand for sukuk continues to outpace supply as Islamic banks have very few other instruments available for investment.
Primary:
There is a distinct void of instruments to create an efficient portfolio and to diversify an Islamic balance sheet
Scarcity of Islamic fixed income securities has resulted in significant demand with investors holding on to these investments and preventing market depth
Lack of supply affects liquidity and tradability of sukuk in the secondary increases demand as more investors would be unable to replace their sukuk
Secondary:
Sukuk provide an avenue to invest in Sharia compliant investments and meet the pressing need for a medium term investment with regular income and higher returns than fixed deposits
Part of mainstream asset allocation and diversification for Islamic banks in particular using these instruments as a tool to manage their assets and liabilities and recycle liquidity
Increase in regional liquidity combined with mounting religious consciousness

4. SUPPLY AND DEMAND GAP
Supply & Demand Gap has increased to reach $236 in 2014 due to lower expected issuance driven by global economic recovery, expectations of interest rates and the fed’s bonds repurchase program

5. NEW SOVEREIGN SUKUK ISSUERS AND THEIR GOALS..
A number of non-Muslim countries making their debut in 2014 to get access to the highly demanded asset class
The strong demand for sukuk encouraged 19 jurisdictions to tap the sukuk market in 2014, with huge oversubscription amounts for the UK, South Africa and Hong Kong sukuk .
The interesting feature is that sukuk still get demand being issued in Euro. The IDB and Luxembourg both issued in Euro.
Governments making their debut generally also create a benchmark yield curve to ensure an efficient pricing methodology is in place for the instrument.
The intention of the sovereign issuers is also to encourage other local companies to tap into the sukuk market to benefit from the huge investor base and pool of risk averse liquidity.
Massive infrastructure spending across the GCC and deficit budget financing across several emerging Asian and African markets will continue to drive issuance.
International sukuk is also an indirect way to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to any country.

6. SUKUK SUPPORTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Issuers utilize sukuk to pursue various economic / social development plans
Bahrain used sukuk to finance a number of sectors including the billion dollar residential project, Durrat Al Bahrain. It has also issued the first retail sukuk in the country earlier in 2015.
UAE banks used sukuk to boost capital to comply with BASEL III requirements (ADIB / DIB).
Malaysia’s capital- raising exceeded RM90bil for the third consecutive year, indicating the capital market’s deepened capacity to meet Malaysia’s real economy financing needs.
Sukuk was also seen in medical sector following World bank (iffi) issuing1st immunization sukuk to fight Ebola and other diseases.
Saudi Arabia utilizing sukuk to finance large projects with relatively longer maturities such as General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in 2012 and Saudi Aramco (SATORP) in 2011.

7. Sukuk Market Characteristics
The Supply and Demand of Sukuk
Sukuk Market Characteristics

8. SUKUK KEY MILESTONES
Sukuk Issuance has grown both in terms of volume and issuer and instrument diversity

9. SUKUK KEY MILESTONES 2014
2014 witnessed a significant milestone in terms of 8 debut sovereign issuances putting sukuk in the mainstream

10. SUKUK MARKET GROWTH
Despite the slowdown in sukuk issuance, 2014 witnessed a number of non-Muslim countries making their sukuk debut

11. COUNTRIES PREFERRED BY SUKUK INVESTORS
Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Senegal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom were the new sovereign entrants
19 jurisdictions issued sukuk in 2014 compared to 16 in 2013 and 18 in 2012.
Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Senegal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom were the new sovereign entrants in 2014.
We also saw a corporate sukuk in the Maldives, and also welcomed the first Japanese and conventional U.S. bank to the sukuk market.

12. Global Sukuk Issued in 2014 Breakdown by Structure
SUKUK STRUCTURES PREFERRED BY MARKET
Murabahah, Malaysia’s favourite structure, was the most-used structure in 2014; the total value of 342 murabahah sukuk amounted to $53.9 billion
Global Sukuk Issued in 2014 Breakdown by Structure
Sukuk Structure
Amount Issued
($ Million)
Number of Sukuk
Murabahah
$53,875.53
342
Ijarah
$20,594.50
119
Wakalah
$11,388.60 47
Bai Bithaman Ajil
$9,100.79 12
Musharakah
$4,749.58 89
Al-Wakala Bel-Istithmar
$4,407.37 7
Mudarabah
$1,999.89 5
Mudarabah-Murabahah
$1,889.38
Al-Istithmar
$1,519.92 2
Ijarah-Wakalah
$1,500.00 1
Al Salaam
$1,176.36
154
BAIEINAH
$570.50 20
Wakalah-Murabahah
$350.00
Murabahah-Musharakah
$9.83
Of the 342 issuances, only 5 murabahah sukuk were issued outside Malaysia.
Trading of murabahah sukuk in the Middle East, or the regions that follow AAOIFI standards, is prohibited. In Malaysia, however, investors can trade murabahah sukuk in the secondary markets.
GCC countries prefer the ijarah structure and the consistent use of ijarah sukuk has been the trend for the past 5 years. It is expected that the ijarah structure will be used more extensively given its attractiveness and tradability.

13. SUKUK COSTS
Despite their higher issuing costs relative to bonds, sukuk have benefited from specialist investors who solely deal with sharia-compliant products.

14. SUKUK PRICING
Sukuk pricing is heavily driven by the fixed income market based on treasuries, mid-swap rates and country CDS. The market still treats sukuk as a regular bond when it comes to pricing.

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