Built with an automatic filter to disallow non-Shariah investments, Al Safi is a good example of Barclays responsiveness to the needs of Islamic clients. The platform represents a major innovation in Islamic Finance as it offers in a Shariah format both the conventional long equity strategy and the ability to gain from falling stock prices. Prior to the creation of Al Safi there was no comparable solution in the market.

Barclays Capital developed and launched Al Safi in partnership with Shariah Capital and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre Authority (DMCC), an agency of the Dubai government. At the time of the launch the DMCC committed to seed the first commodity hedge fund managers on Al Safi with US$50 million each, a total of US$200 million. The fees charged to clients are comparable with regular alternative fund investments - so there is no premium charged for Shariah governance.