Religious beliefs. Religious institutions (e.g., the Catholic Church and Mormon Church), observant individuals, and some family offices look for investments that are compliant with their religious views. For example, consider Omar Bassal, head of asset management for MASIC, a shariah-compliant family office based in Saudi Arabia. He structures investments in public equity, private equity and real estate to comply with Islamic restrictions regarding business activities and interest, among other things. Omar sees “a shortage of investment funds that are specifically designed for investors that want to invest in a way that is consistent with Sharia laws.” Shariah-Compliant funds are prohibited from investing in companies which derive income from the sales of alcohol, pork products, pornography, gambling, military equipment or weapons. Additionally, Shariah compliant funds cannot employ conventional leverage or sell shares short. Instead of investing in bonds, notes, T-bills and other conventional fixed income products, Shariah compliant investors favor trade finance funds, leasing funds and Sukuks (income-generating asset backed pools) which provide a substitute for the portion of investors’ portfolios that carries less risk than equity markets and provides yield.