Bahrain is host to a thriving mutual funds industry. The first overseas mutual funds started being marketed in Bahrain during the 1980s, and the first Bahrain domiciled scheme was launched in 1984.
The first Collective Investment Undertaking (“CIU”) rules were issued by the CBB in 1992, which were revamped in June 2007, by the launch of the CIU Module as part of Volume 6 of the CBB Rulebook. The CIU rules were further revamped and issued in April 2012, under a separate Volume of CBB Rulebook (Volume 7). In March 2022, the CBB has relaunched the CIU rules under the completely novated “Module CIU”. The Module CIU provides rules and regulations pertaining to the authorization/notification processes, as well as the supervision regime of locally domiciled and overseas domiciled CIUs in Bahrain.
As at the end of April 2026, the number of mutual funds stood at 1746 funds, of which 65 funds were Bahrain domiciled, compared to 1738 funds as of April 2025. The number of Sharia compliant funds stood at 174 as of April 2026.
The net asset value (NAV) of those funds totaled US$ 10.929 billion as of the end of March 2026, reflecting a 3% decrease compared to US$ 11.269 billion the previous year. Of the total NAV, US$ 4.374 billion is invested in locally incorporated funds, and US$ 2.498 billion in Sharia compliant funds.