Islamic mutual funds (IMFs) continue to grow as an alternative investment vehicle for investors wishing to integrate Islamic values and secular financial objectives in their investments. The growth of IMFs has been strong since at least the pronouncement by the Council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah in 1990 that equity investment was permissible as long as it complied with Shari'ah (Nathie, 2009). Since then, many asset management companies have offered lMFs alongside their existing conventional mutual funds (CMFs) and socially responsible investment (SRI) funds. For example, the number of IMFs worldwide has risen more than threefold from 200 funds in 2003 to 680 funds in 2008, representing various types of IMFs (Eurekahedge, 2008). Concomitantly, the value of assets managed under these funds has also grown, from US$20 billion in 2003 to US$44 billion in 2008 (Ernst & Young, 2009). At present, equity funds represent the largest segment of IMFs (about 40 percent), followed by fixed income (16 percent), real estate and private equity (13 percent) with the remainder in cash or commodities or other Islamic funds (Eurekahedge, 2008). For the most part, these funds are concentrated in several regions, with more than half currently invested in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific (International Financial Services London, 2010, p. 5).