Amana Income Fund Celebrates 25th Anniversary, Becoming World's Second Largest Islamic Equity Mutual Fund

BELLINGHAM, Wash., Sept. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Saturna Capital Corporation, a U.S. investment management company and adviser to nine mutual funds is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its first client, Amana Income Fund.  Since its inception in 1986, Saturna's flagship Amana Income Fund has grown to $1.3 billion and is now the second largest public equity mutual fund in the world managed according to the principles of Islamic finance. Its sibling fund, Amana Growth, is the largest such fund at $1.9 billion in assets.

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Amana Income's 25-year run is rare in the U.S. mutual fund industry. Out of the roughly 7500 mutual funds currently in operation, only about 300, or 4%, have been around as long as Amana Income. Research shows that the closure rate for U.S. mutual funds throughout the 1990s was around 36%, rising to 56% in the 2000s. Funds that fail to attract investors, often due to poor relative performance or distribution strategies, are regularly merged or liquidated by their managers.

Saturna's conservative, value-oriented management style developed and refined by portfolio manager Nicholas Kaiser during his 41 year investment career meshes well with Amana's rigorous Islamic mandates. As a result of the funds' award-winning long-term performance and top-ratings from U.S. fund rating agencies Morningstar and Lipper, the Amana funds found appeal outside of the Muslim community and now have more than 100,000 investors throughout the United States.

"We've spent the past 25 years developing and refining our security screening process to select high-quality, value-oriented stocks that adhere to the principles of Islamic finance," Kaiser explains. "What this means for our shareowners is that we heavily scrutinize the operations of the companies we invest in, and we know their balance sheets and the sources of their revenue."

He added, "Amana's Islamic mandates impose a high level of discipline on our investment process. Our shareowners – many of whom are non-Muslim – know and appreciate this. It's a very systematic and deliberate process, to ensure that each one of our investments not only meets or exceeds multiple criteria, but continues to do so throughout its holding period."

Nicholas Kaiser has been portfolio manager of Amana Income for 21 years and has twice been nominated as Morningstar's Domestic-Stock Manager of the Year. He founded Saturna Capital Corporation in 1989, and serves as its Chairman. He also serves as Chief Investment Officer, leading a steadily growing investment team, which includes Amana's deputy portfolio manager Monem Salam. The ten-member portfolio management team is based in Saturna's Bellingham, WA headquarters and its branch office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Amana Income has maintained Morningstar's highest rating of five stars overall for the last 58 consecutive months, since October 2006.  For the 10-year period ending June 30, 2011, it ranks in the top 1% of all 813 funds in Morningstar's Large Blend fund category.

The Amana Income Fund has received three Lipper Best Fund Awards: for the three-year period ended December 31, 2006, among 180 equity income funds; and for the three-year and five-year periods ended December 31, 2007, among 198 and 135 equity income funds, respectively.

The Fund has also received five Failaka Islamic Fund awards in various categories over the past few years: three Best U.S. Islamic Fund awards in 2008 (sweeping the one-, three- and five-year periods); Best Global Equity Fund in 2009 (for the three-year period); and Best Global Equity Fund again in 2010 (for the five-year period).

The idea for a mutual fund for Muslim Americans originated in 1984 with two Muslim businessmen interested in serving their community. They approached Kaiser to launch Amana Income Fund, with the objectives of current income and preservation of capital.

Amana Mutual Funds Trust, consisting of the Amana Income (AMANX), Amana Growth (AMAGX) and Amana Developing World (AMDWX) Funds, are designed for Americans who wish to invest according to Islamic principles.

For more information about Saturna Capital Corporation or the Amana Funds, visit www.saturna.com or www.amanafunds.com.

About Saturna Capital Corporation

"Values-Based Global Equity Managers"

Saturna Capital Corporation, established in 1989 in Bellingham, Washington, USA, is the investment adviser and administrator to $3.5 billion in assets, including nine mutual funds, private accounts for families, businesses, and endowments.

Saturna Capital is adviser to the Amana Mutual Funds Trust, which includes Amana Growth Fund, Amana Income Fund, and Amana Developing World Fund. The Amana Funds are managed according to the principles of Islamic finance.

Saturna Capital is also adviser to the Saturna Investment Trust, consisting of six funds: Sextant Growth (U.S. domestic equities), Sextant International (international equities), Sextant Core (bonds and equities), Sextant Bond Income (long-term bonds), Sextant Short-Term Bond, and the Idaho Tax-Exempt Fund (Idaho municipal bonds).

Saturna Capital has three wholly-owned subsidiaries. Saturna Sdn. Bhd., located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, specializes in investment advisory services for Asian individuals and institutions. Saturna Brokerage Services, located in Bellingham, Washington, USA, provides general discount brokerage services and distributes Saturna's affiliated mutual funds. Saturna Trust Company, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, USA, provides trust services to families, charities, trusts, estates and retirement plans.

Other information:

Morningstar is a leading provider of independent investment research on mutual funds and other securities. For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating™ based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% 4 stars, the next 35% 3 stars, the next 22.5% 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of performance figures associated with its 3-, 5- and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics.

As of 6/30/2011, Amana Income was rated against 1675, 1434 and 813 Large Value funds over the last 3-, 5- and 10-year periods. With respect to these Large Value funds, Amana Income received Morningstar Ratings™ of 5 stars for the 3-, 5- and 10-year periods.

Lipper, a Thomson Reuters Company, is a nationally recognized organization that ranks the performance of mutual funds within a universe of funds that have similar investment objectives. 20% of the funds in each Lipper category are in the 1st quintile. Rankings are historical and are based on total return with capital gains and dividends reinvested. Rankings do not consider any sales charges. Funds are chosen as the best fund in their category for demonstrating consistently strong risk-adjusted returns compared with peers. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper. Users acknowledge that they have not relied upon any warranty, condition, guarantee, or representation made by Lipper. Any use of the data for analyzing, managing, or trading financial instruments is at the user's own risk.

Failaka Advisors, established in 1996, is a globally recognized research and consulting firm serving the Islamic fund industry. Awards are granted to the topmost performers in each category. To be eligible, funds must have at least the equivalent of US$10 million and must have been active for the full tenure of the award category.

Please consider an investment's objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. To obtain a free prospectus or summary prospectus that contains this and other important information about Saturna's funds, call toll free 800/SATURNA or visit www.saturna.com. Please read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Contact:  Victoria Odinotska
Kanter & Company
Tel. + 1 703 534 3735
[email protected]

Jane Carten
Saturna Capital Corp.
Tel. +1 360 594 9900

SOURCE Saturna Capital Corporation