"Our growing top-class team will help us bring further innovative Islamic finance offerings in the coming months and years.”"
- Sagheer Malik, chief commercial officer & MD of retail finance
Shari’ah-compliant lender, Offa, has announced the appointment of three new senior staff members to support the recent launch of its buy-to-let product.
Qasim Sajad joins as senior home finance manager. He has more than 12 years of experience in Islamic Banking including sales, team management, supervisory training, and staff development. Prior to joining Offa, he was part of the sales management team that grossed over £1 billion in home finance and buy-to-let finance at Al Rayan Bank.
Saalik Haleem joins Offa as senior intermediary and product manager. With 11 years in the Islamic finance industry, Saalik was part of the same sales team at Al Rayan Bank as Qasim, and has many years of broker departmental and relationship management experience, working with brokers both in the UK and internationally.
Dominic Squires has joined Offa as head of compliance and money laundering reporting officer for both bridging and buy-to-let. He has worked within financial services for more than 20 years, with 16 of those years in the compliance space.
Offa recently launched its buy-to-let offering, pledging fast funding decisions and a paperless process.
The Islamic buy-to-let products are available to new and seasoned landlords who are British residents or UK expats. Where a customer’s rental income is not sufficient for the required affordability criteria, Offa will allow top-slicing.
The range is available to anyone purchasing property in England and Wales aged 21 or over where the property’s value is between £60,000 and £1 million. First-time landlords can also apply, and Offa’s buy-to-let solutions are also available for houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs).
In April, Offa also announced a £100 million credit line for its bridging finance arm from a fund managed by UAE-based Gulf Islamic Investments Group (GII).
Qasim said: "I am passionate about bringing faith based financial solutions to those who wish to have access to inclusive and ethical financial products. Joining Offa gives give me the opportunity to work with some of the top Islamic finance leaders in the country in a company whose cultural and faith-based values resonate with my own.”
Saalik commented: “I have joined Offa firstly to help bring innovation to the Islamic finance industry via its groundbreaking products and platform, and secondly to challenge myself in a fantastic new opportunity for personal growth. I am proud to be part of this team, which is led by some of the pioneers and leaders of Islamic finance in the UK.”
Dominic added: “I am keen to take on the challenge of this role, especially because of Offa’s unique Islamic finance proposition and to help the team succeed with our current and future offerings.”
Qasim and Saalik report to Sagheer Malik, chief commercial officer & MD of retail finance, who said: “These senior appointments are part of our strategy of focusing on the quality of our service along with the speed. Offa has just successfully expanded into the buy-to-let space, and our growing top-class team will help us bring further innovative Islamic finance offerings in the coming months and years.”
Amir Firdaus, Offa’s chief financial officer, whom Dominic reports to, stated: “I am delighted to have Dominic joining our team. We value his significant industry experience, which will result in a better Islamic property finance service for our customers across the UK and beyond.”
