Big potential in Islamic ETFs
Industry players are upbeat about Islamic Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) but say a lot needs to be done to raise awareness and excitement about the investment fund. Generally, however, Malaysia has not been enjoying much success when it comes to ETFs since the first product was listed on the local bourse in 2005. Global ETF experts were in unison in pinpointing limited investor awareness as the culprit for the fund’s lack of success. The Malaysian ETF market stands at RM1.03 billion of assets under management (AUM) as at August 2014, versus the global figure of more than US$3 trillion (RM9.6 trillion) by year-end. On the global stage, ETFs have been growing at a phenomenal rate, estimated at some 20 per cent of compounded annual growth rate since its debut in 1989.
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