IA is a recent product offering by Islamic banks that provides investors with an opportunity to directly invest and share the profits from Shariah-compliant investment activities. Islamic banks undertake significant roles in IA transactions in intermediating funds from investors.

• Potential high returns: Under IA, returns to investors are based on performance of the underlying ventures that they choose to invest in. Possible upside returns may be generated from the profit of debt-based financing under a broader set of credit criteria and more efficient capital and liquidity management strategies of Islamic banks in offering equity-based financing structures.
• Bank-intermediated: Islamic banks undertake significant roles in intermediating investors’ funds including filtering of viable ventures, conducting suitability assessment on individual investors and continuous performance monitoring of underlying ventures.
• Independent rating on ventures: Performed by a professional rating agency with extensive experience in rating of financial instruments, facilitating informed decision making by investors.
• Broader choices: Investors can filter the ventures listed based on their desired criteria. This is especially useful to investors with specific investment mandates.
• User friendly: IAP is a platform that is accessible anywhere, anytime, with some processes conducted online.

• What does credit rating mean? Credit rating reflects opinions on the capacity and willingness of a venture to meet the payment of capital and expected returns on a full and timely basis from the perspective of the rating agency.
  While credit ratings can be used as a reference to gauge an appropriate level of returns considering the risks involved, it is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold investment, and does not signify any measure to define good or bad ventures.
• Why is credit rating necessary? Before ventures are listed on IAP, they will be independently reviewed and assigned a credit rating by a professional rating agency. This credit rating is to assist potential investors in making informed investment decisions. For institutional investors, a credit rating is useful in monitoring compliance with their respective internal risk limitations.