The Principal Financial Group® is proud to introduce Investing in Islamic Funds: A Practitioner's Perspective, a new book from Datuk Noripah Kamso.

Kamso was the founding CEO of CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management, a joint venture partnership between Principal Global Investors and CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, the largest Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) investment bank and the world's largest Islamic banking group.

Larry Zimpleman, president, chairman and CEO of The Principal®, who contributed the foreword for Investing in Islamic Funds, said, "It's been an honor to know and work with Noripah these last 10 years. I congratulate her on a wonderful accomplishment and encourage investors everywhere to pay close attention to the insights shared within this important book. The Principal has long been a supporter of Islamic finance, as evidenced by the $2.1 billion1 in assets under management at CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management. Islamic finance's impressive growth over the past 30 years should have both retail and institutional investors paying very close attention to this market."

Investing in Islamic Funds explores the principles of Islamic investing to share its benefits and help demystify this important investment market, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The book:

  • Shares evidence needed to validate the resilient performance of Islamic equity and fixed income asset classes during down-trending markets and the volatile periods of the last six years.
  • Provides guidance to position Islamic investing to all types of investors.
  • Reveals the untapped demand of 1.57 billion Muslims representing 23 percent of the global population.
  • Examines data bearing out the qualitative and quantitative benefits of Islamic investing.

Institutional investors, financial services practitioners, sophisticated investors, regulators and scholars will gain an industry insider's perspective on what can drive the possible success of Islamic funds internationally.

About Noripah Kamso
Noripah Kamso is currently an Advisor to CIMB Islamic. She was previously the CEO of CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn Bhd. Since 2008, she has successfully established a platform for the firm to extend its reach across the globe. Previously she served as the CEO of CIMB-Principal Asset Management Berhad, where she pioneered the listing of the world's first Regional ASEAN Exchange Traded Fund, "CIMB ASEAN 40 ETF" on the Singapore Exchange in 2007. She is a two-time winner of the Marketing Personality of the Year Award (2005 & 2006) by Asia Asset Management for the Asia Pacific region, CEO of the Year for Malaysia (2007) and Personal Achievement Award for contribution to Islamic Asset Management by International Takaful Summit, London (2012). Besides serving as a council member of the Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM), she was the past president of the Malaysia Futures Brokers Association (MFBA).

About CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn. Bhd.
CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. is a partnership between Principal Global Investors and CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. CIMB-Principal Islamic is committed to offering Islamic investment solutions that best meet institutional global investors' needs and objectives. The Company is part of the Malaysian International Islamic Finance Centre community and is one of the first global Malaysian-based Shariah compliant asset managers.

About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal®)2 is a global investment management leader offering retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management. The Principal offers businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement, asset management and insurance through its diverse family of financial services companies. Founded in 1879 and a member of the FORTUNE 500®, the Principal Financial Group has $466.2 billion in assets under management3 and serves some 19.0 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.

1 As of Sept. 30, 2013.
2 "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
3 As of Sept. 30, 2013.

Principal Financial Group
Adam Lackey, 515-362-0482
lackey.adam@principal.com