First Times......

This past week, I had the opportunity of going to Washington, DC. It is obviously not the first time I have gone, but it was the first time for a few of things.

First time I gave a seminar at a picnic..........
First time I gave a seminar at ADAMS........
First time I attended the ICI Small Funds meeting.....
First time I attended the ICI General Funds meeting.......
and the most interesting of all,
First time I learned what a Cicada was........don't know? it's ok, I will explain later....

Friday May 14, 2004

I took the Red Eye to Dulles Airport and was surprised to find that the flight was absolutely full. The other times I have gone, it have been able to sleep lying down on three seats. I was afforded no such luck. Upon my arrival, I met with Abdulkader Thomas from Shape Financial and we spoke about the joint seminars we did in Michigan. He thought they went really well. Shape, as it gets off the ground, is sharing an office with one of it's Board members who has numerous properties in the Herndon, VA area and imports Tea from Sri Lanka. I tried it and it was pretty good. He is of Pakistani origin and has done business with many people in the Arabian Gulf. Interestingly, typical of Arab culture, half way through the conversation, he gave me his card and it was a flip kind. On the front was a list of 15 positions and honors he has held in his life. I say interesting because this is fairly typical in the Arabian Gulf from my experience, and although his has been her now since 1990, he was still carrying on the tradition.

Next I met with the Imam of All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), Mohammed Maged. He, apart from being the Imam, is also on the Board of Zamzam Travels, a hajj and umra group. He told me that he met with the Qatari gov't and they want to give $500,000 per year to needy individuals wanting to go for hajj in the US. Similar to something Brian Ingram used to go. We talked a little about structure and then also spoke in length about a charity for hajj, similar to the Hajj Foundation. Next time I go to DC for the Board meeting, we will discuss further.

I gave the Friday sermon at ADAMS and there were approximately 700 people there. I did not speak about Islamic Investing as I could do this the next day. Afterwards, I headed out to La Plata, MD to visit with the community there. Now it is only about 40 miles from ADAMS, but it took me 3 hours because of the traffic. In fact, one stretch of 5 mi. took me 1.5 hours!!!!! So glad I don't have to deal with traffic every day. The Muslim community was holding a picnic and the food was great!!! Afterwards, I gave a presentation on the Amana Funds to a crowd of about 50 men and women. About half of the men were MDs, so it was a good crowd. Being in the middle of a park, I gave the presentation without the powerpoint, and it went well, with people asking good questions about the funds. Here, I also met a Chaplain of the Pentagon who invited me to come and speak to the Muslims there, approximately 30 come for Friday prayers.

I went back to my friends house, this time it took only 1.5 hours and I was completely exhausted, have slept on the plane the night before and then a long (productive) day.

Saturday, May 15, 2004

This day I gave the seminar at ADAMS, which was a first for me. The community is very familiar with the fund since Dr. Mirza, Dr. Unus, Dr. Albarzinji, and Dr. Al-Alwani all live there. I didn't know what to expect as far as crowd, but I was told not to be optimistic. Since Guidance Financial and Azzad are both located in this area, the Muslims are well aware of investing. Whenever they do a presentation, the gave less than a handful of people. Also, the weekend before, Allied Asset Advisor visited the area and gave a presentation that attracted 8 people. With all this, I went in with a low expectation and I was pleasantly surprised. There were 30 in attendance. I attribute this turnout to the good reputation Amana has in the community, here and elsewhere. Being no load, I think people realize that our presentations are informative rather than a sales pitch. Dr. Mirza was in the crowd, and because I was talking to the people afterwards, did not get a chance to ask him what he thought of it.

May 17 - 19, 2004

These two days, I attended the ICI Small Funds Conference where there were approximately 30 small funds represented and then the general meeting. There is a section in there called Shop Talk and this was very productive. Throughout this meeting, I learned two truths:

1) Most, if not all, of us have the same issues.
2) Nick is a "legend at the ICI", a quote I heard more than once by people in attendance.

I got to walk around the bazaar at the General meeting and picked up a lot of trinkets to give us an idea about what maybe we should offer at ISNA and other places. I also met a small fund group based in Bloomfield Hills, MI that runs the Ave Maria fund. They are a Catholic based fund targeting only them. Very similar to Amana in there audience. The fund was funded by the person who founded Domino's Pizza.

And Now............ "The Return of the Cicadas"

Still don't know what they are. Cicada is an insect that hybernates for 17 years, comes out en mass, lays 600 eggs a piece, lives for 2 months and dies. Leaving behind a next generation to come out 17 years later. I saw pictures of the old parts of the Washington area where it looked liked fall when the leaves fall to the ground and cover the grass. Although in the picture, they weren't leaves, they were Cicadas. It was amazing. Can you imagine, the last time they came out to this time? what a change of environment!!!! I think if the parents were alive, they would have thought: "Its the Invasion of Humans". 17 years ago, the Dulles area was a small city, with many of the companies that are now in the area not even being conceived of. I remember visiting a friend there in 1995, and the area like a small town. Now it is one of the fastest growing in the country. But the "Invasion of Humans" is not too far off. I often wonder what other creatures think of us. Probably like parasites, living off the land, using and abusing, and leaving things for waste. I am not trying to be "green" but just stating an observation. Even the bacteria living in our stomachs act more like symbiots. They help us, and we give them a place to live? Do we humans do the same thing on earth?

Form or Substance

Friday May 7, 2004

On Friday evening, I had a seminar at the Islamic Society of Boston which is located in Cambridge, MA half way between Harvard and MIT. It was between the evening (maghreb) and night (isha) prayer and there were approximately 40 people in attendance. After the seminar, I had a conversation with some some of the active members of the community and they wanted to speak further about their own project in the heart of Boston. The City of Boston has given permission for ISB to build a $22 million facility with a mosque, school, and a cultural center. The land was purchased for $180k and the current market price is about $1.5 million. In return, the ISB promised to clean up the neighborhood, as well as teach Islamic Studies classes at the community colleges in the area (pretty good deal, in my opinion). Anyway, the project began about 1999 and they have about $4.5 million raised. The unfortunate part is that it has been sitting in a non-interest bearing checking account for the past few years. I gave them ideas of what they could do with the money, and out efforts at creating the Amana Savings account made sense in light of their situation.

Saturday May 8, 2004

Harvard was holding an Islamic Finance forum and there were individuals and companies from all over the US and the world who are dealing with Islamic Finance. I met quite a few people but it was very apparent that the Islamic Finance industry in the US is far behind that of the Muslim Countries. This is not surprising considering that there are considerably more people and money there. However, what I found of note was the majority of the Islamic Banks across the world are dealing with institutions and wealthy individuals, whereas in the US, the focus has been on the entire Muslim community. The Muslim World industry went where the money is, and in the US, we have primarily targeted the "community". I think this is a good complement since they have the resources for product innovation and we can apply them to US laws and regulations.

During this conference, I also met with some people from a new credit union starting in Canada known as Salam Investments. I think they have chosen a most excellent name!!!! Anyway, they are working as a subsidiary of a larger credit union (can't recall the name) but will begin to offer products for the Muslim community in Canada, which is about 1 million strong concentrated in 5 cities. The CEO was familiar with the Amana funds and also of the SAMI fund in Canada. He is very interested in offering products through Amana to the Muslim community there. I suggested some time of a sub-advisory role where they apply for the licenses. Further discussion is needed.

There was also an interesting discussion that took place regarding Islamic Finance and what academians and institutions should be focusing on when it comes to new products. On one side is the camp in favor of form, which argues that you take the banking system as is, and create products that are Sharia compliant to achieve the same results, but with different form. One lawyer for King & Spalding in NY gave an elaborate example of this which in the end looked like the investor was just changing the names of interest to profit. Interestingly enough, this is what many, many average people complain about when looking at various financing options. On the other side are the people who are looking for substance. That if Islam is supposed to wipe out injustice in it economic system, and since Allah mentions that Riba (Interest) is a form of injustice, then we should truly come out with products that wipe out injustice and not just change the meanings of words. In my opinion, you need both. As this industry is new, we need to change form, and as it develops, we need to change substance.

Sunday May 9, 2004

I took a train out about 45 miles from Boston to a town called Lowell, MA. I gave a seminar after the afternoon (duhr) prayer and there were approximately 25 people in attendance. Not surprisingly, many had never heard of the Amana funds and were very glad to hear the presentation. One question that was asked was again regarding endowments for schools and mosques. The person asked what the minimum was to open an account for an investment account for a mosque. After the presentation, it got me thinking that even if the mosques have no large sum of money for investments, we should encourage them to open an account with minimum, and then contribute monthly. This way, we will get them to invest early on, their money will grow, and when it does come time for them to invest a larger some, they will already have a relationship with us.

Many things to do, not enough time to do it.............

The "Michigan Left"

This was the first time for me to visit the SE Michigan area and give seminars on the Amana Funds. This was also the first time that I had the opportunity to give a joint presentation with another company in the area of Islamic Housing. All presentations were given jointly with Abdulkader Thomas from SHAPE Financial, who is working with a local Ann Arbor, MI bank, University Bank, to offer savings accounts and a mortgage alternative for Muslims. I was a little skeptical at first when Abdulkader suggested the idea to me and we had some issues with timeliness of getting places reserved. However, having completed the weekend, I think the joint presentation idea is a good one. Usually in my presentations, when giving them alone, I get questions as to whether or not Amana offers housing. Having these joint presentations answers the issue. The only thing I would do differently is that we should plan our own seminars and invite them to attend. We have a much better organized system of preparing and executing seminars which far more professional than any others that are out there. This was confirmed by Abdulkader this weekend.

Friday April 30, 2004

I gave the Friday sermon to approximately 70 people in Ypsilanti, MI. I spoke about earning a halal provision and it was well received by the audience. I had some people afterwards come up to me and ask questions about housing and investments.

Saturday May 1, 2004

In the morning, we gave a joint presentation at the Islamic American University located in Southfield, MI. There were approximately 10 people in attendance, including some shareholders. The university is only a few years old, and the brainchild of the Muslim American Society (MAS). It has approximately 60 full time students and many more in its on-line program. The University has quite an influence over the Arab population in the SE Michigan area. Remember, this area is home to Dearborn, which is majority Arab and in fact it has the biggest population of Yemenis living outside of Yemen. Driving through Dearborn, you feel like you are in the Arab world with restaurants, signage, and everything else being in Arabic (even the pepperoni pizzas are catered for Muslims, they use beef pepperoni, since we can't eat pork). Anyway, there were some people from the University in attendance and they seemed to have more questions for the mortgage product than Amana. And the questions were mainly having to do with its permissibility in Islam. This usually never comes up with regards to Amana, due to (in my opinion) the age of the funds.

In the evening, we attended a dinner at the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit. There were approximately 150 in attendance and we had a small table to pass out information. I did not use the booth, but did have the DVD playing. Many of the individuals that came up to me were already shareholders and I think this is a good mosque to visit for a future presentation.

Sunday May 2, 2004

We started the day giving a presentation at the Muslim Center in Detroit. Do to some miscommunication, there were only 10 people in attendance. The timing announced by the administration was an hour off, and since we had another presentation at 1:00pm we could not wait. The audience was mostly inner-city African American Muslims and I was surprised that none of them had heard of the Amana funds. they were very appreciative of the presentation. I was able to ask them more information about how to advertise in the community and where and which conferences to set up booths. Although many of them don't have extra cash to put in the funds, many do have 401k's and they do change jobs often. So there is still a market for us to capture.

In the afternoon, we gave a presentation at a hotel organized by University Bank and again there were approximately 10 people in attendance (we never seemed to break this threshold). Since it was held a hotel, the people who came were definitely interested. Normally, I do my presentations at the mosque in between the sunset and night prayers which usually get the most attendance. This tactic gets more bodies in the room but many stay to listen at the spur of the moment. Having it at the hotel, people came because they were interested!!! However, I still think that doing it at mosques in between prayers is a better idea. In my opinion, the more people the better. I think that even if they don't open an account right away, they will be aware of Amana and when the need arises, will look to us for investments. this should be views as branding and seminars at the same time. Plus, the people still sign up, so we do have an ever-growing prospect list and if we stay in touch with them, eventually, they will turn to us.

In the evening, we presented at a mosque in Hamtramck, MI. This area is dominated by Bengalis. Like Dearborn, Hamtramck makes you feel like you are in Bangladesh (not that I have been there) but all the signs, the aroma of food is all Bengali. Again, they are mostly first generation middle class immigrants and like the Muslim center, don't have extra cash, but have retirement plans through employers. One of the attendees was an employee of Ford and is welling to get a petition going to try to get Amana into there 401k. Obviously, there are many Muslims at Ford, in the US and around the world, and this would be a big win if we can get this.

Monday, May 3, 2004

I had a meeting with the Chairman of University Bank before heading to the airport. I picture most Chairman as people in their 60s, and "good ole boys", however, to my surprise, this guy, Stephen Ransini, was 39 year old that looked like he was 25. The bank itself is a small outfit based in Ann Arbor, MI and has about $44 million in deposits. I had a discussion with him about using their brokerage arm to sell the Amana Funds (cross selling with the Mortgage Alternative product). There brokerage is through Equitas, which clears through Pershing. He and the CEO of the bank were very enthusiastic about signing up Amana. They began offering the Mortgage Alternative product as a specialty, but it is slowly becoming their biggest seller. One of the things that they are noticing amongst the Muslims applying for a housing loan is that all of them either have excellent credit or no credit. Excellent credit because they pay off their cars, credit cards, etc. to avoid interest, or no credit (amongst the stricter ones) because they refuse to get credit cards, and buy everything with cash. And so far, majority of the applicants have been Drs. in the area some with huge amounts of cash in checking accounts (one had $200k in a checking account).

I think there is an opportunity here to work with University Bank. They have a dedicated savings account (FDIC insured) that is for the mortgage alternative product. The Chairman said that if we provided depositors, he could give us a 50 basis points as a one time fee (its more detailed than that). The bank is very serious about opening markets in various states and are approved in VA, and are looking to CA by the end of the year. They are already getting face time with Muslims in there presentations, and if we can get the selling agreement signed, they can begin to open accounts for Muslims in Amana. At the same time, many Muslims ask us if we have something more stable than our Income fund, and this would be a good alternative. The only downside I see is that we would be directing our shareholders to another company, which could end up dropping us if another fund came out offering a larger commission. They are familiar with Azzad and DJ Islamic fund, but they are too small. More thought needs to be given as to how we can work together.

On a side note, I must say that this whole weekend, no matter where we drove, and no matter if there was a local person with us, we got lost!!! One can say that we were lost the whole weekend, with a few stops along the way for seminars. I couldn't figure it out and neither could the MI residents. Every time someone had told us to make a right, we later figured out we should have turned left and vice versa. If they said go North, we should have gone south, and vice versa. I finally came up with a hypothesis as to why this was happening. It is a phenomenon called the "Michigan Left" where on majority of the streets, you cannot make a left turn. You have to pass the light, make a U-turn and then come back and make a right. I have not seen this in any other city. Also, the other thing that was weird was the names of some of the cities. One such city was Southfield. You would think that it was south of Detroit, but it is not, it is in the north of the city!!!!