BIMB Investment, in collaboration with Arabesque, has recently launched the BIMB-Arabesque Global Shariah Sustainable Equity Fund. 

On March 22nd, 2021, BIMB Investment launched the BIMB-Arabesque Global Shariah Sustainable Equity Fund (BGSEF) through a virtual event held on Zoom.

It was launched officially by BIMB Investment Chairman Mohamed Ridza Mohamed Abdulla, with the attendance of Georg Kell (Chairman of Arabesque), Najmuddin Mohd Lufti (BIMB Investment Chief Executive Officer), and Gabriel Karageorgiou (Partner at Arabesque Asset Management).

The launching welcomed many members of the media and participants from various organisations. Learn more about what the fund is all about below.

What to Know About BIMB Investment and Arabesque

BIMB Investment is a Shariah-ESG investment management company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. It is a licensed Islamic investment fund management company registered with the Securities Commission of Malaysia, and incorporated on 14 September 1993. BIMB’s objective is to deliver risk-adjusted sustainable returns to investors and currently has about 14 funds under its management.

Arabesque Asset Management is a global asset management company which employs Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability research in its investments. It utilises rules-based and quantitative investment approaches to perform their analysis at scale. Its proprietary S-Ray framework enables it to integrate information on sustainability into the overall investing process to deliver better risk-adjusted returns.

What to Know About the BGSEF Fund

Objective

BGSEF’s objective is to achieve long term capital returns with a high risk profile, with the immediate goal of managing RM100m of client assets in 24 months. It plans to invest in up to 100 equities in the global market.

Strategy

The fund will utilise a rule-based, quantitative and Environmental, Social and Governance framework to select Shariah-compliant equities for investment. This is implemented through the usage of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to process huge amounts of data and eliminates human bias in the investment process.

The equities are then analyzed and filtered according to the following characteristics

  • Balance sheets / cash flows
  • Management quality
  • Growth prospects
  • Earnings estimates
  • Expected stock price and trend

It also follows the United Nations Global Compact’s four principles of selecting companies that respect human rights, respect labour rights, have low pollution to the environment and have no corruption.

BGSEF conducts weekly rebalancing of its portfolio, where it seeks to diversify its holdings across sectors and regions. Individual stock weights are limited to 1% to avoid concentrating in any given stock.

Fund Type, Risk, and Who Is It For

BGSEF is a growth-type fund, where it aims to generate above average returns for its customers. Its goal is to seek for long term capital gains, rather than giving out steady dividends. Hence, it is a high risk investment catered for investors that are

  • Seeking capital appreciation over medium to long term investing horizons
  • High risk tolerance

This fund is not suitable for investors that are looking for steady returns and liquid cash flows.

Cost and Fee Structure

The fund’s base currency is denominated in US Dollars, while its class of units are separated into

  • Malaysian Ringgit
  • Hedged Malaysian Ringgit
  • US Dollars
  • Singapore Dollars
  • Australian Dollars

BGSEF is offering its fund shares at an initial offer price of RM0.25 per share where it will charge the following fees

  • Sales Charge: Up to 5.5% of the Net Asset Value per Unit
  • Annual Management Fee: Up to 1.8% per year of the Net Asset Value of the Fund
  • Annual Trustee Fee: Up to 0.035% per year of the Net Asset Value of the Fund.

The fund is available for subscription to investors with just initial investments of RM500, USD500, AUD500, and SGD500.

Credibility of BIMB and Arabesque

BIMB Investment is a licensed Islamic investment management with the following achievements

  • Alpha Southeast Asia Award: Best Islamic Asset and Fund Manager 2018,2019, and 2020
  • The Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards: Best ESG Equity Fund 2020
  • Global Business Outlook  Finance Awards 2020: Best Shariah-ESG Fund Manager 2020

Arabesque Asset Management is a global asset management company with the following achievements

  • ESG Investing Awards 2021: Runner-up for Most Innovative ESG Product
  • Investment Week’s Sustainable Investment Awards 2017: Best ESG Investment Fund

Overall

The BIMB-Arabesque Global Shariah Sustainable Equity Fund (BGSEF) is aimed towards investors with higher risk tolerance and long term investing horizons. It’s objective is to generate higher than market returns for its investors through Shariah-compliant equities around the world, utilising Machine Learning capabilities and rules based, quantitative methods to select equities. For more information on the fund and how to subscribe, please go over to their website.

 

What are your thoughts on BGSEF? Let us know in the comments below!

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