At the end of October, the UK became the first non-Muslim country to host the World Islamic Economic Forum. Not content with Middle Eastern money boosting the capital’s property market and helping build iconic buildings such as the Shard, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne wants London to become “the unrivalled western centre for Islamic finance”.

However, flows into exchange-traded funds suggest the traffic is largely one way. Excluding Turkish funds, few European-listed ETFs invest in the Middle East and none have attracted substantial assets, according to research firm ETFGI. The biggest European fund, Lyxor's FTSE Coast Kuwait 40 ETF, has $16.2 million under management as at the end of October. Only one other - iShares MSCI GCC ex-Saudi Arabia Ucits ETF - has more than $10 million.