According to a recent report from Swiss banking group Lombard Odier that surveyed more than 300 high net worth investors in the Middle East, attention to Islamic investments is growing fast. The survey shows that 61% of the respondents say their interest in Islamic assets has increased during the last year, while 39% are willing to invest further in sukuk (Islamic finance bonds).

The Islamic finance industry has experienced average annual growth of 11.7% over the past 10 years, and in 2021 the industry's global assets exceeded the value of $2 trillion. "Sharia-compliant investments are an established branch of the broader global market. The Middle East — particularly the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] — and South Asia regions have played an essential role in the sector's development," said Edana Richardson, assistant professor at the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University, Ireland.

Lombard Odier's report underlined investors' increasing desire to consider Islamic and sustainability principles, which overlap at various levels — such as respect for the environment — in their economic decisions. Almost half of the respondents (49%) declared an interest in knowing the climate impact of their portfolio investments, particularly their help in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

In addition, in 2020, the Dow Jones Sukuk index had higher performance than the Bloomberg Emerging Markets Aggregate index, which considers debt issued from emerging markets countries and corporations. This fact implies that interest in Islamic finance is not only grounded in the religious values of its instruments but also in market-driven decisions.