Setting His Own Path: Welcome Tariq Al-Rifai

Tariq Al-Rifai, the new Director of Islamic Indexes for Dow Jones Indexes, always knew what he wanted. Even as a student at Minnesota's St. Cloud University, he loaded up on courses that would help him get into business school. After he got his MBA from DePaul University in Chicago, when his classmates were getting jobs at banks and brokerages, Tariq set his own course.

"I had this goal: to work in the money management industry. But I had to figure out a way to differentiate myself from those with degrees from Ivy League and elite universities," Tariq explains, a smile accenting his easygoing manner. "I wanted to find a niche. In Kuwait, I was aware of the growing Islamic banking and investment sector. I knew that this would be my expertise. This is what I would do."

Tariq started his own business, Failaka Advisors, in 1996. He set about learning as much as he could about the industry, including its history and its players. After some time, he found out that Harvard University was seeking to build a database of information on the Shari'ah-compliant banking industry. When he called the Harvard Islamic Finance Information Program, telling them that he was collecting data on Islamic mutual funds, he got an unexpected offer over the phone.

"We want to be your client."

Today, thirteen years (and many other diverse institutional and retail clients) later, Failaka is still operating, providing information on all things Islamic investing around the world. With six people working on data and intelligence collection (and Tariq not involved in the dayto-day operations), it is still working to become the "Morningstar for Islamic mutual funds."

The road to Dow Jones Indexes

Tariq's background—as well as his business (and life's) experience—gives him a unique perspective. The son of a Kuwaiti father and American mother was called to service in 1990 when his home country of Kuwait was invaded by Iraqi troops. After what he calls an "abbreviated" training at a post in New Jersey, Tariq and 600 other Kuwaitis served as translators for the U.S. Army. It was a very personal service for him.

Tariq's resume reads like a travelogue. He has traveled the world—both figuratively and literally—to learn about Shari'ah-compliant investment. He has worked in cities from New York and London to Kuwait City, Manama (Bahrain) and Dubai. He has worked for companies both big (HSBC) and small (Gulf-based Unicorn Bank). Over the years, Tariq found himself doing private equity, retail banking, investment banking, wealth advisory and capital raising.

"My passion was fund investment," he explains. "Whenever an opportunity presented itself, I took it because it helped me to gain new experience. This is what led me to Dow Jones Indexes."

Tariq is passionate as he describes the potential of both the Islamic market and his new firm. His phrasing is purposeful and he makes his points enthusiastically.

"You cannot talk about Islamic indexing without mentioning Dow Jones Indexes," he says, pointing out that the company was a pioneer in the industry and continues to be a leader. "The name alone carries such weight around the world. That helps tremendously when you are looking at such a huge market like the Middle East."

He goes on to say that the Islamic investing business in general, and indexing in particular, are both so relatively new that only a small fraction of the Muslim public is even aware of its existence (and opportunity).

Untapped markets

"In the U.S., you have something like half of households owning stock in some way. The percentage in the Mideast is so much lower. But that means that the potential is there. We are in the process of educating not just money managers, but the public as well. Once the idea that you can invest in Islamic funds that are backed by Shari'ah-compliant indexes takes hold, the demand is bound to go up exponentially."

Tariq smiles and pauses. He wants to make sure that the concept sinks in. Then he makes an analogy to drive the point home.

"You know the construction expression 'high steel'? In places like Dubai, where I'm based, you have all these tall buildings being built. They are hundreds of feet high, but mostly just steel base. Only the bottom floors have cement and a base. They call that 'high steel'—where something big is in the process of being built. Islamic indexing is in the 'high steel' phase: We have a base, and now we are filling it all in."

Opportunities for the future

Tariq is extremely optimistic about the future of Shari'ah-based finance and how its growth will impact in his new role.

"The Muslim consumer, the Muslim investor, around the globe is driving a new demand. The cycle is turning up. And the Dow Jones name is so highly regarded..."

He pauses and smiles.

"This is going to be really nice. I can't wait."