The Children’s Mutual, the UK’s only provider specialising exclusively in long-term savings for children, has today announced that it will be launching the first Child Trust Fund (CTF) Stakeholder account that is compliant with the Shariah.
Ivan Lewis MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury and Dr Akber Mohamedali, Treasurer of the Muslim Council of Britain, will attend the launch and be available for questions with David White, Chief Executive of The Children’s Mutual, on June 29.

The account, which is scheduled to go live in September 2005, will be an actively managed Global Equity Fund fully compliant with the Shariah and supervised by a Board of Scholars. Parents looking to register for the account before September can ring 0845 6080045 or visit www.thechildrensmutual.co.uk from Friday 1 July 2005.

David White, Chief Executive of The Children’s Mutual, said: "All parents, from every community, should have the opportunity to give their child a financial springboard into adult life. Working with the Muslim community to launch this Stakeholder account means the Child Trust Fund is now a truly universal product. Until this year only one in five families were saving for their children, we want to give five in five families the opportunity to put money away for their child’s future."

Iqbal Asaria, member of the Governor of the Bank of England’s working party on the introduction of Islamic finance in the UK, said: "The launch of a Shariah compliant Child Trust Fund is particularly welcome as it will enable the Muslim community to wholeheartedly participate in this important initiative. For the first time, Muslims will be able to invest for their children in keeping with the tenets of their faith right from birth."

A distinguished panel of scholars, who specialise in Islamic finance law, will be working closely with The Children’s Mutual and its fund manager to create the product.

David White, Chief Executive of The Children’s Mutual will be launching its Shariah account with Ivan Lewis MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Dr Akber Mohamedali, Treasurer of the Muslim Council of Britain and Mufti Abdul Kadir Barkatullah Imam at the North London Finchley Mosque on Wednesday June 29 at 2.30pm at the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, 244 Acklam Road, North Kensington, London, W10 5YG.