Atif Abdulmalik took a gamble when he left Investcorp, the Arab world’s blue chip private equity firm, in 1997 to set up his own shop.

With $10m from a Saudi family, he quickly attracted a dozen Gulf investors. Then he launched Arcapita, modelled on Investcorp but with a twist – it would invest only according to Islamic law, tapping into a vast but poorly served market at the time.