Comparison of Portfolio Selection and Performance: Shari’ah-Compliant and Socially Responsible Investment Portfolios

This study examines the effect of Islamic screening criteria on Shari’ah-compliant portfolio selection and performance compared to Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) portfolio. Each portfolio constructed from 15 stocks based on FTSE 100 using data from year 1997. Mean-variance portfolio optimization is employed with some financial ratios added as constraints for the Shari’ah portfolio. Annual expected return of each portfolio from 2008 to 2013 is used to calculate Sharpe’s ratio, Treynor ratio and Jensen’s alpha as the performance measurement tools. Macroeconomic variables are assessed using ordinary least square to examine whether they influence the portfolios’ expected returns or not. The result finds that Shari’ah portfolio has a better performance than SRI from year 2008 to 2010 shown by higher value of the measurement tools. However, from 2011 to 2013, SRI portfolio has better performance than Shari’ah portfolio

Comparing the Determinants of Fund Flows in Domestically Managed Malaysian Islamic and Conventional Equity Funds

Purpose: This 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/approach: By using panel data, the sample of Malaysian domestic managed equity funds are considered comprised of 20 individual funds from IEF and CEF respectively from 2011 to 2013. Findings: The 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/implications: The 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 implication: The 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 and conventional equity funds. Originality/value: This 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

Does ureteral access sheath have an impact on ureteral injury?

Objective: To present a well-organized review about ureteral access sheath impact on ureteral injury. Materials and Methods: Systemic search on literature was done. Total of 3766 studies observed by two urologists and results were unified. A Prisma diagram was used for eliminating irrelevant studies and at the end of elimination process 28 studies were found eligible for this review. Results: Not only clinical studies but also comparative experimental animal studies show that there is no significant data to claim that ureteral access sheath insertion causes more ureteral injury. Pre-stented patients were found to be at lower risk for ureteral injury. Risk of progression to ureteral injury seems to be low even if ureteral injury occurs with insertion of ureteral access sheath. Conclusion: Summary of studies' results indicate that use of ureteral access sheath doesn't increase ureteral injury. This review may help understanding safety profile of ureteral access sheath on evidence-based level. There is not enough data to make a statement that ureteral access sheath prevents ureteral injury

Higher ethical objective (Maqasid al-Shari'ah) augmented framework for Islamic banks : assessing the ethical performance and exploring its determinants.

This study utilises higher objectives postulated in Islamic moral economy or the maqasid al-Shari’ah theoretical framework’s novel approach in evaluating the ethical, social, environmental and financial performance of Islamic banks. Maqasid al-Shari’ah is interpreted as achieving social good as a consequence in addition to well-being and, hence, it goes beyond traditional (voluntary) social responsibility. This study also explores the major determinants that affect maqasid performance as expressed through disclosure analysis. By expanding the traditional maqasid al-Shari’ah,, we develop a comprehensive evaluation framework in the form of a maqasid index, which is subjected to a rigorous disclosure analysis. Furthermore, in identifying the main determinants of the maqasid disclosure performance, panel data analysis is used by including several key variables alongside political and socio-economic environment, ownership structures, and corporate and Shari’ah governance-related factors. The sample includes 33 full-fledged Islamic banks from 12 countries for the period of 2008–2016. The findings show that although during the nine-year period the disclosure of maqasid performance of the sampled Islamic banks has improved, this is still short of ‘best practices’. Through panel data analysis, this study finds that the Muslim population indicator, CEO duality, Shari’ah governance, and leverage variables positively impact the disclosure of maqasid performance. However, the effect of GDP, financial development and human development index of the country, its political and civil rights, institutional ownership, and a higher share of independent directors have an overall negative impact on the maqasid performance. The findings reported in this study identify complex and multi-faceted relations between external market realities, corporate and Shari’ah governance mechanisms, and maqasid performance

The Emergence of New Islamic Economic and Business Moralities

This article aims to explore the sources of the observed transformation in the embeddedness of economic, business, and financial practices of Muslim individuals in comparison to premodern period Muslims. It argues that the predomination of instrumental reasoning in modern times, as opposed to substantive morality in everyday practice, is one of the main reasons behind the transformation of embeddedness of Muslim individuals. Instrumental reasoning, being the dominant methodology, leads to diminished submergence in social relations; that is not limited to interpersonal relationships, but further extended to the core religious acts. How such an emergent economic and business morality is reconciled with the Islamic substantive morality is examined. It is argued that “transformation of exception into norm” is the main method used to reconcile instrumental reasoning with Islamic law in fulfilling religious obligations, at least in terms of fulfilling the form and in complying with the necessities of modern life. This has led to the emergence of new economic and business moralities

Corporate Social Responsibility and Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs): Management Perceptions from IFIs in Bahrain

Islamic finance is gaining greater attention in the finance industry, and this paper analyses how Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are responding to the welfare needs of society. Using interview data with managers and content analysis of the disclosures, this study attempts to understand management perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in IFIs. A thorough understanding of CSR by managers, as evident in the interviews, has not been translated fully into practice. The partial use of IFIs’ potential role in social welfare would add further challenges in the era of financialisation

Perceptions on the accessibility of Islamic banking in the UK—Challenges, opportunities and divergence in opinion

This study examines the views of UK-based Muslims, Islamic Scholars and Islamic banking employees on the current state of the latter industry, both in practical terms and as regards engagement with the nation’s large, but often marginalised Islamic community. The British Government has recently championed the Islamic banking sector and committed to supporting it as a means of addressing financial services needs and consolidating London’s position as the global centre for Islamic investment. The analysis adds to the substantive literature in two principal ways: (i) by contextualising the evidence via the notions of empowerment, engagement and social justice that underpin both the state’s attempts to foster growth and the central tenets of Islam; and (ii) by placing comparison of the opinions of key groups at the heart of the investigation. The findings reveal that while progress has been made, UK-based Muslims see several substantive impediments to access, including the complex terminology of Islamic banking products, the lack of internet banking facilities and branch networks as well as a generalised lack of interest in marketing on the part of the institutions. Whilst some coincidence of perception is evident, the views of bankers are shown to be out of line with those of the other parties in a number of key areas. For example, bankers appear to see less potential in the role of the internet as a medium for spreading awareness than do either potential customers or religious scholars. The paper therefore concludes with a call for multi-party Ijtihad and Qiyas (deductive analogy) that will encourage industrial outreach and, in so doing, support long-term growth

Divergence between Aspiration and Realities of Islamic Economics: A Political Economy Approach to Bridging the Divide.

Early writings in Islamic economics depicted a grand and, some would say, utopian image of the type of societal development that would result from implementing Islamic social and economic theory. However, despite the emergence of Islamic economics in a modern sense in the 1960s, we now find that the only manifestation that represents an Islamic alternative to mainstream neo-classical development is the Islamic banking and finance industry (IBF). However, the developments in the IBF industry indicate that it has converged towards conventional finance. Consequently, it has failed to fulfil the institutional and policy aspirations of Islamic economic system. This paper, thus, attempts to identify how such divergence has taken place, presents a conceptual model of development in Islam that goes beyond mere economics and fiqh considerations and suggests a political economy approach to demonstrate that the foundational axioms in fact rely wholly on major institutional implementation. It also identifies the pre-requisites for achieving this that includes political vision, will and leadership