IslamicFinance.de

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) and Islamic stock indices have marginally outperformed their conventional counterparts this year, owing to their better management and lower leverage. Refinitiv head of Islamic finance Mustafa Adil said while syariah-compliant equity indices experienced identical volatility-induced declines to conventional stock indices, they had staged a better recovery so far. He added that these equities are expected to provide greater returns in the medium to long term as they are less leveraged.

The Islamic finance industry is climbing to new heights on the back of strong global demand for sustainable and socially responsible investments. According to the fifth edition of the Islamic Finance Development Report and Indicator, the growth of the industry is unabated despite an economic slowdown caused by the decrease in oil revenues. The report is the result of a joint research made by Thomson Reuters and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD). Mustafa Adil, Head of Islamic Finance at Thomson Reuters, says that Islamic finance can serve as a strategic tool for policymakers to cope with the slowdown, especially in the Middle East. The report estimates that the Islamic finance industry will reach a global asset volume of $3.8tn by 2022, up from $2.2tn at the end of 2016, which translates into an expected compound annual growth rate of 9.5%. The leading country remains Malaysia and the leading region the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The global Islamic finance assets are projected to grow to US$3.2 trillion (RM13.6 trillion) by 2020, says Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.
Its Head of Islamic Finance, Mustafa Adil said Islamic finance was considered the most developed sector within the various pillars of the Islamic economy and its growth in the global industry was broadly measured by the value of Islamic finance assets.
As global acceptance of Islamic finance continues to grow, he said more corporates and non-Muslim sovereigns were announcing Islamic finance initiatives such as ethical finance or Shariah-compliant regulations, as well as sukuk issuances.