Islamic Funds Research Articles

Impact of Islamic Label on Firm’s Governance: Evidence from Pakistan

This paper aims to study the impact of Islamic Label on the firm’s governance quality. The recent literature indicates that debt can discipline managers to work efficiently in the interest of the firm. Thus low leverage can proxy for good governance. Since Islamic firms are low on debt, thus we may extend that Islamic label can proxy for good governance. To test our hypothesis, we obtained data from 231 nonfinancial firms listed on Pakistan stock exchange out of which 53 were declared as sharia-compliant. The results indicate that the Islamic label has a positive significant impact on a firm’s governance quality and Islamic label can proxy for good governance. This study aims to form a nexus between Islamic label, leverage, and governance on which there is little or no literature. It will also be important for investors and managers of Islamic funds who have little or no research support about the governance aspect of Islamic firms.

Comparing the determinants of fund flows in domestically managed Malaysian Islamic and conventional equity funds

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an empirical evidence on the fund flows-past return performance relationship by also considering the management expense ratio, the portfolio turnover, the fund size and the fund age of Islamic equity funds (IEF) investors in comparison with conventional equity funds (CEF) investors.Design/methodology/approachBy using panel data, the sample of Malaysian domestic managed equity funds is considered which comprises 20 individual funds from IEF and CEF from 2011 to 2013.FindingsThe results provide evidence that IEF investors have different factors when choosing funds in comparison with CEF investors. The study finds that the key factor influencing the fund flows of IEF is the management expense ratio, compared to the CEF which is fund size. This study also shows that all the fund characteristics of IEF and CEF are positively or negatively related to the fund flows.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study may be extended by considering other fund categories such as the money market fund, the balanced fund, the bond fund and the fixed income fund.Practical implicationsThe empirical findings of this paper clearly call for fund managers and investors to review their investment policy. The results could also provide better information and guidance for investors as well policy makers on the factors that affect the fund flow for Malaysian Islamic funds and CEF.Originality/valueThis paper is among the earliest empirical evidence studies on the fund flows-past return performance relationship by focusing in a comparative manner on IEF investors and CEF investors in Malaysia.

Islamic Financial Development and Cooperation Among Member States in CICA

There are 26 member states in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), including Asian countries and some African countries. CICA has developed the regional and cooperation mechanism with the largest coverage, the largest number of members and the widest representation. The vast majority of member states are countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), and many countries use Islamic finance in CICA’s own financial system or are interested in cooperating with Islamic finance. For political and economic reasons, Islamic Banks development in CICA member states is imbalanced. Sukuk (Islamic Bonds) development in CICA member states is mainly sovereign Sukuk. The share of Islamic Funds assets in CICA member states is very low. The takāful sector in Iran is comparatively developed in CICA member states. Islamic Financial development and cooperation in CICA member states is mainly concentrated in Islamic countries. However, it has expanded to Non-Islamic Countries. In the future, Islamic finance development and cooperation will play an active role in the construction of the B&R.

The contribution of market movements, asset allocation and active management to Islamic equity funds’ performance

Where the performance of Islamic equity funds (IEFs) comes from? Is it from market movements, asset allocation policy or from active portfolio management? Our study is the first to tackle this question in the Islamic funds context. We use a database covering 281 IEFs for the period 2007-2016, and we test the role of each factor in explaining their returns. We find that market movements dominate the others components explaining nearly 50% of the monthly return variability and that, taking together, asset allocation policy and active management explain approximately the second half of IEFs returns. We argue that the IEFs underperformance observed by the existing literature could come from an inefficient and too important active portfolio management.

Religion based investing and illusion of Islamic Alpha and Beta

Among the recent literature, that compares the performance of Islamic and conventional mutual funds, two important dimensions have been widely neglected. First, it is possible due to the diverse segments of the market that mutual funds invest in, that the funds' asset classes or investment styles play a role in the performance differential between Islamic and conventional mutual funds. Second, the higher returns and lower risk, the two cornerstones of the perceived superiority of Islamic funds, could possibly be driven by cross-country differences. This study fills this void and presents empirical evidence on Islamic mutual funds across multiple investment styles for Malaysia and Pakistan, which collectively hold 31% of the total number of Islamic funds around the world. The results suggest that the notion of a global higher Islamic Alpha and lower Islamic Beta does not exist. The superior performance of Islamic mutual funds is no more than an illusion as any differential can be attributed either to the country differences or to a particular investment style.

Ethical Mutual Investment Funds and Islamic Investment Funds: A comparative study

Ethical investment funds or socially responsible investment funds (SRIFs) became among the most important financial instruments encouraged corporate social responsibility at the level of financial markets as investors rushed to financial products Which agree between social and environmental responsibility for investment with acceptable performance. Since investors become more aware of the benefits of Ethics and socially responsible investment, the interest in Islamic investing and Ethically Based Investment is also increasing.This paper is concerned with the role of ethical investment funds andIslamic investment funds in economic development and raising growth rates through the promotion of the financial market.This paper addresses four key points, First, the concept of ethical investment and Islamic investment, secondly the concept of Islamic and Islamic investment funds,thirdly study the role and importance of ethical investment funds and Islamic funds in financial market. And finallycomparing ideas, ratios and investment styles underlying SRI and comparing them to Islamic portfolios. with a qualitative assessment of the differences and similarities, SRI and Islamic derived from the application of the investment screens. The paper concluded that the creation of socially responsible investment funds should be considered to meet the wishes of all segments, particularly Ethical Investors.

Comparative Analysis of Islamic and Conventional Mutual Funds’ Performance during Financial Crisis and Non-Crisis Periods in Pakistan

This study aims to analyze and investigates the differences in performance of Islamic and conventional mutual funds in three periods, namely the period during the financial crisis period, dated 2008 to 2009, after crises period 2010 to 2017, and the whole period, dated from 2007 to 2017. More specifically the study aims to investigate whether the Shariah compliant Equity, Income and assets allocation mutual funds performed better in terms of risk adjusted basis as compared to the conventional Equity, Income and asset allocation mutual funds. The risk return behaviors were examined by employing performance measures such as Sharpe, Treynor, and Jensen Alpha. Moreover, their performance in coping of systematic risk is also analyzed by regressing macroeconomic variables on returns. Study concluded that Conventional Income mutual funds perform better in all three periods including (crises and non-crises) compare to its counterpart Islamic income mutual funds in both risks adjusted basis and simple arithmetic mean basis, however their difference is not statistically significant. Study also found that Islamic equity mutual funds perform better in crises period as compare to its conventional equity mutual funds in risk adjusted basis In crises period both funds gave negative return, but Islamic equity mutual funds declined less than conventional mutual funds which shows that Islamic mutual funds provide better hedging in crises period., however there were no significant difference among the two in the other two periods. Similarly, Assets Allocation funds also have no significant difference among themselves, however Islamic asset allocation mutual funds outperform conventional asset allocation mutual funds in all three periods, especially in crises period where Islamic funds showing positive returns as compared to conventional fund that were suffering in loss of about 14%. Overall the whole period performance of Islamic mutual funds is slightly better but not statically difference.

Building Social Business with Islamic Fund

Building Social Business with Islamic Fund

What Does the Relationship among Unit Trust Funds Indicate about Optimal Portfolio Investment Diversification Strategy? The Case of the Malaysian Islamic Unit Trust Funds Industry

In the Malaysian unit trust funds (UTFs) industry, the performance of funds is often below the market portfolio and risk-free returns, as the fund managers in Malaysia show poor selectivity performance and lack of timing skills. Individual investors, therefore, need to build and diversify their portfolio investment beyond the fund managers’ portfolio for further risk mitigation and return enrichment. This study investigates the long- and short-run relationships among all net asset values (NAV) of Islamic UTFs in Malaysia over the period from April 2006 to December 2015, using the Johansen–Juselius cointegration test and vector error correction model (VECM) framework. The overall results show that the NAV of all Islamic funds share a long-run equilibrium relationship in Malaysia. On the other hand, the Engle and Granger causality test found that the Malaysian UTFs industry is an inefficient market and experiences predictable behaviors in the short run. The study, therefore, will contribute to both investors and policymakers. Investors (unit holders) could strategize and diversify their portfolio in the long run based on the degree of relationship among all the Islamic funds to achieve better risk–return trade-offs. In the short run, the result may help them predict the behavior of the funds’ NAV in the near future. For policymakers, the Securities Commission of Malaysia, and the Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust Managers can gain enormous advantages to further improve the UTFs industry by focusing on market price efficiency and a robust regulatory framework of portfolio diversification strategies for each type of fund to be more flexible and to help in eliminating such restrictions on fund managers’ operation diversification for improving UTFs returns to align them with the experience of the developed market.

The First Meat Sector IPO: Al Shaheer Corporation

This case examines the June 2015 decision of Muhammad Asad, a fund manager at Al Meezan Investment Management Limited, to participate in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Al Shaheer Corporation, a leading meat sector company of Pakistan. He was interested in increasing the exposure of the Meezan Islamic Fund (MIF) to the food sector, provided attractive risk-adjusted returns could be achieved. Based on the research team analysis and his own assessment, Asad had to decide whether or not to participate in the IPO book building process and the number of shares to bid for at each price level. Both Market Multiples and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation methods had yielded share value higher than the IPO floor price of PKR 43 per share which encouraged Asad to consider the investment opportunity. He also had to decide on the amount that he could allocate to the IPO on behalf of MIF. Asad had to prepare his recommendations on the IPO for presentation and approval by the investment committee in the upcoming meeting. He has asked you to conduct an independent analysis and valuation of Al Shaheer stock over the weekend and share your findings with him early Monday morning.

Challenges Affecting the Adjudication of Islamic Finance Cases in the Malaysian Courts

The Islamic banking and finance industry in Malaysia is developing progressively, primarily due to the concerted effort from the regulators and the industry players alike. The Islamic funds are increasing over the years and more innovative products are introduced for the benefit of the consumers. In some situations, disputes arise relating to the Islamic finance matters, and they end up for the adjudication of the courts system. However, there have been debates as to the challenges affecting the adjudication of such cases in the Malaysian courts. Engaging in library-based research, this paper outlines the various challenges affecting the adjudication of Islamic finance cases in the Malaysian courts, involving both legal and operational aspects of the implementation of Islamic finance business in the nation. The challenges include the legal infrastructure puts Islamic finance cases within the jurisdiction of the conventional legal framework, Islam is separated from the administration of justice, different roles played by different components of Islamic finance, separate laws govern the different components of Islamic finance, confusion caused by the building blocks of the legal documentation and the question as to the competency of civil court judges. Accordingly, the future direction of the research is to propose recommendations for the management or dissolution of these challenges, towards better settlement of the Islamic finance cases by the courts.

Comparative risk adjusted performance of Islamic, socially responsible and conventional funds: Evidence from United Kingdom

This study investigates the risk and return characteristics of Islamic funds in comparison with SRI and the conventional open-end mutual funds for the UK, which, having attracted over £11.7 billion in Islamic investment in the past decade has emerged as the largest financial market for Islamic funds in the west. In addition, contrasting with previous literature, this research categorizes SRI and Islamic funds into two distinct types in order to allow a fair comparison. Our findings demonstrate that Islamic and SRI funds in general perform close to the conventional funds with significantly better risk-return tradeoff in US focused funds. Results further indicate that the UK-based Islamic and SRI funds were less effected during financial crisis as the magnitude of loss was significantly lower for them when compared to conventional funds. The research suggests that Islamic and SRI funds do provide a rational substitute and investors can benefit from investing in these funds as ethic and faith-based screening criteria do not affect the returns of Islamic and SRI funds adversely. This was also substantiated by our findings on investment behavior of these funds.

Finance as Worship: A Survey of Islamic Finance Research

The global Islamic finance industry is estimated to be worth approximately US $1.4 trillion, and has grown much faster than conventional finance over the past four decades. Although 80% of this industry is concentrated in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and the Pacific, it is active in 59 countries across all continents. Formally launched in the 1970s, this industry has deep roots in Islamic law (Sharia) and offers many implications for modern finance. In this survey, we explore key aspects of Islamic financing through banking, capital markets, and private contracting. Our objective is to attract the attention of academic researchers, regulators and standard setters, and providers/users of Islamic funding to the critical issues related to the efficiency of Islamic finance.

Factors Affecting the Financial Performance of Investment Funds a Comparative Study: Islamic versus Conventional Funds

The Growth rate of investment in mutual funds has exceptionally increased over the last decade. Many studies have compared between the performances of conventional and Islamic mutual funds in the developed markets and only a few have studied emerging markets. The aim of this study is to focus on the investigation of the factors affecting and the performance of Islamic mutual funds in comparison with their conventional counterparts in Egypt as an emerging market in mutual funds generally and Islamic mutual funds specially. The main objective of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the financial performance of Islamic mutual funds (IMFs) in comparison with the conventional mutual funds (CMFs). Risk and return relationship is evaluated relative to market benchmark over an 8-year period from January 2006 to December 2013 divided into pre-financial crisis phase (27 months), during financial crisis phase (45 months) and post-financial crisis phase (24 months). The data covers 34 mutual funds from Egypt, consisting of 9 Islamic mutual funds (IMFs) and 25 Conventional mutual funds (CMFs) covering only open-end equity funds for the purpose of standardization and relativity of the comparison. The analysis focuses on risk and return performance, and the impact of funds attributes including age, size, objective, systematic risk and total risk. The study employs Sharpe, Treynor and Jensen models as risk-adjusted performance measures. The study concludes that the performance of IMFs is not significantly different from the CMFs counterparts in the pre-financial crisis phase, during the financial crisis phase, or the post-financial crisis phase. Both IMFs and CMFs outperformed the market index (EGX30) in the pre-Financial Crisis phase and the post-Financial Crisis phase but underperformed the market index during the Financial Crisis phase. Moreover, both IMFs and CMFs outperformed the T-bill rate in the pre-Financial Crisis phase but underperformed the T-bill rate during the Financial Crisis phase and the postFinancial Crisis phase. Total risk and systematic risk significantly affect the performance of mutual funds. Income & Growth objective is an important variable that is accompanied by an increase in the performance of the fund. Growth objective and Age also play significant roles in interpreting the performance of mutual funds.

Building Social Business with Islamic Fund

Building Social Business with Islamic Fund

Optimal Carried Interest: Adverse Selection in Islamic and Conventional Venture Capital and Private-Equity Funds

ABSTRACTIn an optimal carried interest model with adverse selection, the optimal profit-loss sharing ratio (PSR) explains how the risk aversion of the two parties can affect their bargaining powers by allowing investors to detect the true risk aversion of fund managers and not their true skills. The higher the management fee, the higher is the PSR. Our simulation exercise shows that when the fund manager is more risk averse than the investor for a higher invested capital and weaker expected net profit, the optimal negotiated profit-sharing ratio will be higher.

Environmental conditions, fund characteristics, and Islamic orientation: An analysis of mutual fund performance for the MENA region

Islamic funds are increasingly seen as an alternative to conventional funds, in part due to the growing prominence of Islamic finance. In contrast to most previous literature, this paper focuses on the countries of the Middle East and North African region (MENA), and compares the performance of Islamic and conventional funds during crisis and recovery periods. Results show that the relative performance of Islamic and conventional funds seem to be conditioned by several factors such as the (geographical) context in which the investment is made. Considering the entire MENA region, Islamic funds perform, on average, slightly worse than conventional funds. However, if the analysis is restricted to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the result opposite is found. In addition, the performance gap between the two types of funds either widens or shrinks when considering recovery or crisis times, providing evidence that Islamic funds are more stable in times of distress.

Impact of ethical screening on risk and returns

Purpose This paper aims to expand the literature on performance and volatility of Islamic funds and indices in comparison to their conventional unscreened counterparts, by studying the Moroccan case considering the recent introduction of Islamic finance in the country toward the end of 2015. Design/methodology/approach As there are still no Shariah-compliant indices in Morocco, the authors first applied four Shariah screening methodologies of some of the world leading equity index providers (i.e. Dow Jones, FTSE, S&P and MSCI) to screen the public listed companies in Casablanca Stock Exchange for Shariah compliance. Next, the authors constructed four Islamic float-weighted indexes for which they modeled the dynamic volatility using an extension of the AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity models, namely, EGARCH(1,1). Findings The findings show that the screening process resulted in a well-diversified universe of Shariah-compliant stocks (25.6 per cent) to invest in. Furthermore, it is found that constructed Islamic indices outperformed the broad-based Moroccan All Shares Index (MASI) during the considered period of analysis (January 2013 to December 2014), and their long-run volatility is higher. This indicates that investors in Shariah-compliant stocks do not sacrifice financial performance for their risky investment. The estimates of the model show that volatility for the MASI is more persistent and takes longer time to die, and the leverage effect is positive for all indices, meaning that volatility of indexes’ returns is influenced more by good news than bad news, a result that is in contrast to other studies for developed countries. Practical implications On the arrival of the new banking law that introduced Islamic finance for the first time in Morocco, the authors suppose that these results could be very helpful for the Moroccan financial authorities in consideration with the construction of Islamic equity indices for Muslim investors seeking to invest ethically in accordance to their religious convictions but also for index funds managers and other equity market players. Originality/value The present study is the first of its kind in Morocco to construct Islamic indices using Shariah screening methodologies for which the volatility is modeled using an EGARCH(1,1) dynamic volatility model.

The Performance of Shariah Real Estate Investment Trust and Conventional Real Estate Investment Trust in Malaysia

This study examines the performances of two Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) structure in Malaysian capital market by comparing the Dividend Yield (DY), Distribution per Unit (DU), Net asset Value (NAV), and Earning per Unit (EU) of shariah REITSs (iREITs) and conventional REITSs (cREITs) from Malaysia perspective. The secondary data are retrieved from Bloomberg's Database for 13 listed REITs in the Bursa Malaysia main board for a five-year period from 2009 to 2013 with yearly observation. Applying One Way-Anova analysis, an Independent Sample Kruskal-Wallis Test is used to determine any differences in the performance of the two REITs structure. The results provide evidence indicating that the two structures have distinctive and significantly different performances. It also indicates the better performance of iREITs compared to cREITs. The results of this study are useful to provide additional evidence towards the viable of Islamic funds as a significant initiative to broaden and deepen the product base of Islamic capital market in Malaysia.

Islamic or conventional mutual funds: Who has the upper hand? Evidence from Malaysia

Contradictory results are documented in the literature regarding which type of mutual fund has superior performance; an Islamic or conventional mutual fund. Due to the relative short history of the Islamic mutual funds' industry, prior literature has inevitably relied on a small sample size with a short sample period. With the longest applicable sample period, this study represents one of the most recent attempts to address this conflicting evidence. We find there is no clear cut over performance by Islamic mutual funds against their conventional peers across the three financial crises in our sample period, with the exception of the most recent global financial crisis, where Islamic mutual funds generally outperformed their conventional counterparts. We further find that Islamic funds significantly outperformed conventional funds in the riskiest asset class, equity, one year before and during the global financial crisis. We further reveal that the modified value at risk for Islamic mutual funds was significantly lower than their conventional peers during the global financial crisis. This seems to indicate that Islamic mutual funds have better risk management compared to conventional peers.