Investment advice is any recommendation or guidance that attempts to educate, inform, or guide an investor regarding a particular investment product or series of products…

When you need financial advice, an investment advisory is one pace you can turn. Generally speaking, an investment advisory is a firm that helps its clients with developing an investment plan to grow wealth strategically.

We ADVICE AND CREATE STRATEGIES to help our clients create more…

More opportunity – More potential – More impact.

We offer an INVESTMENT EXPERTISE/ADVICE across all key asset classes, regions and markets so that our clients can capture investment potential wherever it arises.

We offer a comprehensive FINANCIAL PLANNING to our clients by gathering adequate and relevant data, assessing risk tolerance, complying with regulatory requirements and ethical and religious guidelines.

We provide direction and meaning to our clients FINANCIAL/INVESTMENT DECISIONS which involves making vital decisions about investments, banking, takaful, taxes, retirements, skills and others.

We promote and empowering the FAITHFUL FINANCIAL CULTURES AND PRACTICES and contributing towards building a BETTER FUTURE.

By combining market and economic insight with technology and diverse perspectives, we look for optimal ways to help investors navigate the future and reach their financial goals.

And by putting environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations at the heart of our process, we can invest for a better future. By ensuring the assets we invest in are ready for and resilient to a world in transition, we act as guardians of our clients’ assets and financial affairs .

Keynotes about Investment Advice

• Investment advice is just what it sounds like. It means to provide recommendations or guidance that attempts to inform, guide, or educate someone about a particular investment product or series of products.
• Investment advice can be professional, or it can be amateur, depending on who is giving the advice.
• Financial planners, bankers, and brokers can often provide investment advice for short- and long-term financial goals.
• Always ask for a financial advisor’s qualifications before making any suggested investments.

“Ultimately, it is up to the individual investor to decide which investments are most suitable, but it may be beneficial to ask a professional investment advisor if you are unsure.”

According to MFSA, an investment advice is deemed to be the act of providing personal recommendations to a client or potential client on one or more transactions relating to financial instruments. When providing investment advice, firms are required to recommend to the client (or potential client) the financial instruments that are suitable for him/her and, in particular, are in accordance with the client`s risk tolerance and ability to bear losses.

The term ‘advice’ means a ‘recommendation of what you should do’. For example, a recommendation to buy or sell a particular investment. The recommendation is personal to the client and based on his/her specific circumstances and financial objectives. Investment advice is different from guidance that includes information about different types of investments or general principles without recommending a specific course of action or giving a personal recommendation.

Investment advice is also defined as any recommendation or guidance that attempts to educate, inform, or guide an investor regarding a particular investment product or series of products.

Investment advice can be professional—that is, the investor pays a fee in exchange for the qualified professional’s guidance and expertise, as seen with financial planners—or it can be amateur, as with specific internet blogs, chat rooms, or even conversations. And while it is usually legal to give stock advice or pass along investment information, it may not be permitted if you provide inside information.

How Investment Advice Works

Investment advice refers to any recommendations regarding an investor’s portfolio. Many professionals, including financial planners, bankers, and brokers, can provide investors with investment advice specific to their financial situation and short- and long-term financial goals.

Due to the vast amount of investment advice available, particularly online, an investor may wish to determine the person’s qualifications dispensing the advice before making any investments. Entities that provide information for reference sake about the financial markets or specific assets might make an effort to clarify that they are not representing the information specifically as investment advice. 

Limitations of Offering Investment Advice

Given the influence and potential repercussions that investment advice may have, professionals who might be in a position to provide such input are often cautioned about the possible effect they may have. Whether it is a bank or an independent financial advisor, specific requirements must usually be adhered to when offering investment advice. This can include gathering sufficient information about the client’s financial standing and needs.

There may be requirements for understanding the nature of the investment advice being offered and its relation to the client. Those who offer investment advice might also need to prove that there is no conflict of interest in the guidance they present. This can be particularly crucial if there is a sudden downturn in an industry, market, trading asset that an advisor recommended investors to put their funding towards. If the source of investment advice does not fulfill such duties, they may be held responsible for certain damages the investor sustained based on their guidance.

Special Considerations

Under fiduciary requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), other types of professionals, such as estate-planning attorneys, could be held liable should they offer guidance that could be constituted as investment advice.

Under ERISA, an individual may be considered a fiduciary if they offer investment advice for a fee or other compensation, whether the compensation is direct or indirect. This includes advice given concerning 401(k) and other employer-backed benefit programs.

What Is the Islamic Guideline of Investments?

“Islamic law encompasses all elements of a person’s life, including economics, finance, law, politics, government, and its constituent elements, as well as social, ethical, and religious dimensions, such as morals and social justice.”

“Islamic investing is grounded in Islamic finance principles, which aims to meet investors’ financial needs with integrity and in a manner that is fair, trustworthy, honest and ensures a more equitable wealth distribution. Islamic investing is beginning to be seen not only as a religiously guided investment, but also as an ethical form of investing that promotes real economic activities that are socially desirable. The net effect of this investment approach is generating competitive investment returns and encouraging ethical business practices.”

Since Islam regulates every area of a believer’s public and private interests, Shariah has already laid down the groundwork for stock market regulations and principles. Qualified jurists must extrapolate these principles, develop applicable judgments based on them, and apply them to market-specific circumstances, just as they must do in other areas of Shariah.

In the perspective of Shariah, legitimacy will always be subject to two main requirements: First, instead of a fixed return tied to their face value, they must conduct a pro-rated profit made by the Fund. Thus, neither the principal nor the profit rate (which is tied up to the principal) can be assured. Subscribers should join the fund with the knowledge that the return on their investment is linked to the Fund’s real profit or loss. If the fund makes a lot of money, the return on their investment will increase accordingly. However, if the fund loses money, they will have to share it as well, unless the loss is caused by negligence or poor management, in which case the management, and not the fund, will be liable to compensate it. Second, the funds must be put into a Shariah-compliance business. It implies that not only the investment channels but also the terms agreed with them must comply with Islamic principles.

Moreover, Shariah offers a few rules for the nature of trade, with a focus on Islamic values and social well-being. The primary business must be permitted (halal) in accordance with Islamic laws. There are numerous businesses that engage in totally prohibited (haram) activities, such as the manufacture, sale, or provision of alcoholic beverages, haram meat such as pork, or immoral services such as gambling and betting, discos, prostitution, night clubs, and pornography. Shariah prohibits Muslims from investing in these firms or firms with a primary source of income that is based on these activities. Besides that, any form of riba (usury and interest) is severely forbidden in Islam. Trade is acceptable, but riba is prohibited, according to Allah. In addition to this restriction, Muhammad (PBUH), the final prophet, cursed the practice of receiving and giving interest. According to Islamic principles, it is forbidden to have investments in firms that are linked to riba or interest, either directly or indirectly. Firms that provide interest-based financial services, such as interest-based banks, insurance companies, finance, and leasing companies, are likewise prohibited. 

In Shariah, qimar (gambling) is definitely forbidden. There are two types of gambling: one is simply trying to invest with the idea of being lucky based on excessive risk, similar to how one would spend money in general gambling, and the other is attempting to gain extra or abnormal profit by manipulating the price in any way possible, such as forming a syndicate and spreading rumors. This concept also contains unusual, irrational, manipulative, and immoral stock market speculation, which refers to stock market trading just for short-term profits, resulting in market uncertainty and certain losses, or longer-term positioning of the share for others. The pattern of transaction and its form differs among markets as well as among Islamic jurists. Margin trading, derivatives options, and futures trading, and short-selling are all options available in the stock market. Markets, traditional laws, and Islamic scholars all disagree on the legality of these issues. They are prohibited in many markets due to their involvement in market manipulation and speculations, as well as their interest and speculations. According to Osmani and Abdullah in their article entitled “Towards an Islamic Stock Market,” many Islamic jurists disagree on the validity of forwards, futures, and options because the sold commodity and payment of the price are made at a date in the future, leading in gharar (uncertainty) and gambling. Gharar or selling something you do not own or cannot be described in detail in terms of type, size, or amount, is prohibited by the Shariah.

On the other hand, the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) decided during its tenth and eleventh meetings, while examining crude palm oil futures, they stated that speculating is acceptable under Shariah rules. Multiple arguments have been made in justification of the speculation’s legality. According to SAC, speculation and gambling are considered to be identical in practice. As such, we do hear, for example, the exhortation not to treat the share market as a casino. This perception arises because, like gamblers, speculators join the market merely on the basis of luck. The stock market, on the other hand, is not a platform to gamble. It is a platform where shareholders can trade their stock to other investors in order to acquire liquidity. The way investors join and exit the market, as well as their motivations, determine whether it is gambling or not. As a result, it may be stated that the baseline of speculation under the Shariah rule is based on the investors’ intention or behavior. The decisions should not be dependent on uncertainty or excessive risk, but rather on fundamental analysis and the objective of making a fair profit from the market.

In conclusion, Shariah compliance and conventional investment are different because they need to fulfill many requirements as stated above, and several more. Shariah-compliant funds are investment tools that follow the concepts of Shariah and the Muslim religion’s fundamental principles. It is considered to be a kind of socially responsible investing. It is critical for any Muslim investor to ensure that his or her earnings are Shariah-compliant. Shariah compliance also covers income acquired through various investments, in addition to wages and money acquired from the business.

fDi Intelligence focuses primarily on
foreign direct investment in-depth analysis of the corporate investment climate across many sectors. It is also providing an up-to-date
review of global investment activity.

fDi – Regular columns comprise the following:

Name/Description

News – Updates on companies, markets and investments as well as the latest
investor/host-country legal disputes.
Global Outlooks – Reporting and analysis of the corporate trends and
investment patterns, along with C-level interviews.
Corporate Strategy – Investigates the key company and/or project profiles
as well as including a discussion under the best practice topic including
key information for specific investments.
Regional sections – Global news, commentary and data snapshots, followed
by in-depth features and reports on key foreign direct investment (FDI)
markets.
Think Tank – Knowledge and insight from leaders in FDI.
Sectors – Global updates on key FDI sectors, including data, rankings,
feature articles and spotlight location guides highlighting successful
clusters.
Research – The numbers and hard facts behind global greenfield investment
flows.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FDi_Intelligence

Useful links
Islamic Financial Planning
Islamic Investment Products
Islamic Financial Instruments
Islamic Finance, Islamic Banking and Sukuk
Shariah-Compliant Investments in Malaysia for Halal Investing
Critical issues on Islamic banking and financial markets