{"id":53800,"date":"2022-08-26T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T01:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=53800"},"modified":"2022-11-25T19:05:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T11:05:39","slug":"principal-shariah-and-sustainable-investing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/principal-shariah-and-sustainable-investing","title":{"rendered":"Shariah And Sustainable Investing: Two Sides Of The Same Coin"},"content":{"rendered":"
At first glance, it would seem that Shariah investing and Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) share a common objective – to bring a positive social impact through investing despite the difference in screening methods.<\/p>\n
Let’s take a closer look at both Shariah and sustainable investing to see what opportunities are available for investors where Shariah meets ESG.<\/p>\n
Governed by certain Shariah rules and parameters, Shariah investing is not only seen as a religiously guided investment, but it is also a form of socially responsible and ethical investing.<\/span><\/p>\n From a Shariah viewpoint, investing in shares is permissible as long as the activities of the businesses are within the Shariah parameters and guidelines. To ensure Shariah-compliant investing, two layers of screening are generally applied namely on the business activity (sector screening) and financial screening.<\/span><\/p>\n\n With the sector screening, companies that operate businesses in violation of Shariah injunctions are excluded from the universe of investable stocks. Generally, stocks of companies whose primary business activities are in the following sectors would be deemed as Shariah non-compliant stocks:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, there are certain Shariah jurisdictions which also consider the following as Shariah non-compliant investment sectors: (1) Entertainment including cinemas, music and theme parks, (2) hospitality and resorts (3) weapons and defence.<\/span><\/p>\n Upon passing the sector screening, companies are then subjected to financial screening to further evaluate the extent of interest-based financing and interest-based income. <\/span><\/p>\n It has been reasoned that some portion of riba-based financing and revenue should be tolerated as the strict stipulation that Shariah-compliant companies must not have any form of interest-based financing nor have any interest-bearing investments or deposits would, at the present time, severely constrict the investment universe of investable stocks available to Muslim investors. <\/span><\/p>\n The financial ratios used to measure the quantum of interest-based financing and income depends on the index (or Shariah jurisdiction) relied on.<\/span><\/p>\n Leverage (the ratio of debt to total assets or to total market capitalization) is also examined to evaluate how much of the business is financed by interest-bearing debt instruments. If the leverage exceeds the cut-off point, the shares of the company do not qualify as Shariah-compliant investments.<\/span><\/p>\n In recent years, investing has become more sophisticated, where considerations have gone beyond just looking at the returns in dollars and cents. Investment strategies now also entail other aspects such as the impact that the investment or the investee company has on the environment, ethical considerations as well as the reputation of the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ESG investing can simply be defined as the process of considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, alongside the financial aspects, when making investment decisions. It is also similar to sustainable investing and earlier generational socially responsible investing approaches, where investment activities seek to contribute positively to the welfare of the community and environment.<\/span><\/p>\n To a certain extent, sustainable or ESG investing is in the same vein as Shariah investing as it is not focused solely on monetary returns, except that the former is not guided by religious requirements. <\/span><\/p>\n With this paradigm shift in investing, we have seen several emerging sustainable investment strategies in the investment sphere including exclusionary screening, thematic investing and integration of ESG in investment decisions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Exclusionary screening involves identifying the sectors and companies to avoid based on traditional moral values or on the basis of norms and standards, for example, avoiding investments in products and services involving tobacco or alcohol due to the negative impact of such products on health. With thematic investing, there is a specific trend or objective to be addressed via investments such as food security, the pursuit of green technology, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n Amongst sustainable investment strategies, ESG integration has emerged as a strategy which involves the specific inclusion of ESG risks and opportunities in investment analysis. ESG integration also encompasses the development of policy, reporting standards and committees as well as processes to ensure that ESG considerations are integrated with investment decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n
\n\t Sector Screening<\/strong><\/th> Financial Screening<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n\n \n\t \n
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<\/span>What is Sustainable or Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing?<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n