rjmorg

Hello!
This is a bit of an odd one but I stumbled on this forum through reading a great financial advisor thread and thought I'd ask!

I am British soon to be married to a Qatari. His father is a successful businessman but also a very difficult man to talk to or be around for his son (my fiance), and has controlled the whole family's finances for a long time. My other half has recently got a well paying job and I want for us to be in good financial stead, so I would like to find a financial advisor that can help us invest the savings from his wages plus work out all the stocks that my other half already has and whether it is best invested elsewhere.
The issue is that my partner would want to invest through a Sharia way, so we would like to find a Financial Advisor that is able to help us in this way.

Do you think this is a lost hope to find all of the above in Qatar? Would we be better off speaking to an IFA in the UK? He wants to ensure his funds are protected in case Qatar goes down the plug hole and for us to have property both in Qatar and the UK.

Lots of questions, hope you guys have some ideas of where to look, what to watch out for and the like!

Meow

UK advisers are not authorised to deal with people who are resident in Qatar as they do not have jurisdiction and few will have any knowledge of Sharia compliant products. You need to deal with someone in this region.

I have some knowledge of what is available and work with some takafal products but don't claim to be an expert and I am snowed under with business at the moment anyway. I do however have a colleague who specialises in this area and would be happy to introduce you. He's Irish and converted to Islam some time ago so understands the issues from both sides, if you will.

If you would like an introduction drop me an email and you'll find that in the link to my website below.

Sabi Star

What about asking one of the Islamic banks with branches in UK/Europe?

rjmorg

The idea of an IFA is that they are independent and don't sell you products from one place. Banks, in effect, are about selling their products. An IFA instead tries to diversify a clients finances. We certainly don't want to go to a sales person as they are more interested in selling than the clients needs.

Sabi Star

It is very difficult to choose when making investments IMHO - you can be stuck with them for years, waiting for them to "recover". It can be more about when you take them rather than what they actually are - although I don't know if that applies to Islamic investments. Not very long ago some IFA could have been regarded as selling those products that earned them the most commission.

Meow

This is so very true. Trying to time markets is nigh on impossible unless you actually have a working crystal ball. Proper asset allocation, appropriate risk levels and ongoing management from someone that knows what they are doing and has your interest's at heart are what matter.

Avoid 20-25 year savings plans like the proverbial plague. Those are sold for commission and are not for the individual's benefit.

Some IFAs are good people.

Sabi Star

I heard Goldman Sachs lost 98% of Libya's $1.5 Billion Wealth Fund a few years ago. It can happen to any body.