KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd’s unit, BIMB Investment Management Bhd (BIMB Invest) aims to increase the size of its global shariah-environmental, social and governance (ESG) equity fund, BIMB-Arabesque i Global Dividend Fund 1 (BigDF1), to RM1 billion this year from RM800 million at present.

BIMB Invest Chief executive officer Najmuddin Mohd Lutfi said having accessed Singapore early this year, BigDF1 is poised for further market expansion in the region.

“We are looking at the Indonesian and Bruneian market by 2020, as well as other supportive global Islamic markets,” he told reporters at the ESG & Sustainability Investing with Big Data Technology and Artificial Intelligence official launch with CIMB Islamic, here today. 

The joint collaboration with CIMB Islamic would enable the funds’ subscription network to expand further throughout CIMB branches.

Najmuddin said BIMB Invest Shariah-ESG was launched in partnership with Arabesque Asset Management, the world’s first ESG-Quant specialist located in the United Kingdom.

“This enables BIMB Invest to pioneer artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology, offering the next generation of investment management,” said Najmuddin.

With the collaboration, BIMB’ s Shariah ESG is the largest Shariah-ESG fund manager in Malaysia and fourth largest global equity-Islamic.

It is the first ESG sukuk fund in the world, as well as the first Shariah-ESG equity fund in Malaysia to have an AI fund, global equity ESG fund, global Shariah-ESG fund and Asia-Pacific Shariah-ESG fund.  

The Shariah ESG has three key fundamentals which are active management 2.0 -- an investment strategy that combines sustainability, a sophisticated fundamental stock selection process and an investment management technology.

Secondly, it has a globally-accepted Shariah principles, in accordance with the standards set by the Accounting and Auditing Oraganisation for Islamic Financial Institutions.

Thirdly, an integration with non-financial information on ESG and human rights, as well as labour rights, environmental matters and anti-corruption measures.

The ESG data enables BigDF1 to assess sustainability performance of companies, insights on company’s management quality; comprising strategic decisions and better informed financial decisions. 

-- BERNAMA