IslamicFinance.de

Malaysian Islamic fund manager BIMB Investment has become an official signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). BIMB Investment is the only bank-backed Islamic asset manager in Malaysia to be a UNPRI signatory. The UNPRI group works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and supports its network in incorporating these factors into their decisions. BIMB Investment CEO Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi said that the company has integrated more than 250 ESG metrics in its investment process since 2015. The company currently manages over 1 billion Malaysian ringgit of ESG assets. At the moment there are around 2,300 signatories to the UNPRI. Other signatories from Malaysia include Xeraya Capital, Navis Capital Partners, the national retirement fund KWAP, sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, and Corston-Smith Asset Management.

Malaysia’s Shariah-compliant BIMB Investment Management launched the world’s first environmental, social and governance (ESG) sukuk fund on August 1. BIMB’s ESG Sukuk Fund is the company’s fifth ESG-focused fund as a result of its partnership since 2015 with London-based Arabesque Asset Management. BIMB Investment CEO Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi said the company plans to launch more ESG that incorporates fintech like artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, data analytics. The next investment focus could be in U.S. equity and multi-asset funds.

BIMB Investment is targeting RM100 million in subscription for its newly launched BIMB-Arabesque ValueCAP Malaysia Shariah-ESG Equity Fund. The fund will be invested in 100 local shariah compliant companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. BIMB Investment CEO Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi said the investments would be based on selected companies that have strong financial standing. He said companies who are interested to increase their social responsible investment (SRI) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) portfolios should also tap into this fund.