Kenanga Investors Berhad (Kenanga Investors) has launched the Kenanga Waqf Al-Ihsan Fund with Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia (YWM) as the fund’s appointed waqf recipient and administrator.
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kenanga Investors, Ismitz Matthew De Alwis said that Kenanga Investors has been at the forefront of many of the industry’s pioneering and innovative achievements in the fund management industry, so the next step for them is the expansion into Shariah investments.
“The potential of waqf, an Islamic philanthropic-based vehicle, to positively impact the economic and social aspects of the disadvantaged will be immensely valuable. The fund will serve as the launchpad for other similar ESG-linked products as part of Kenanga Investors’ move towards sustainable and socially responsible investing,” he added,
The fund is an open-ended investment vehicle investing in a diversified portfolio of Shariah-compliant equities, sukuk, Islamic money market instruments and Islamic deposits.
Additionally, in accordance with waqf principles, half of the derived income will be distributed to sectors such as education, healthcare, economic empowerment and environmental preservation or development.
“Kenanga Investors also serves as the first strategic partner to actively collaborate with YWM in the development of waqf since 2021’s National Budget mandate last year which called for more engagements between YWM and government agencies, government-linked companies and the private sector, to drive the development of waqf within the country,” De Alwis said.
Meanwhile, YWM’s Chief Executive Officer, Amir bin Shaharuddin commented that they are pleased to work with Kenanga Investors in a capacity that will directly contribute to YWM’s core objectives which is to develop existing waqf properties, create new waqfs and to develop the ummah economy through waqf instruments.
“The concept of waqf is one of Islam’s core socio-economic institutions which encourages Muslims to be innovative in generating revenue and providing various goods and services to their respective communities.
We foresee that the fund will generate a considerable amount of awareness and interest due to its altruistic nature especially in today’s social climate which will lead to society empowerment and poverty alleviation”, Dr. Amir concluded.
Recently, BIMB Investment Management Berhad (BIMB Investment), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank Islam Malaysia has also launched their own Makmur myWakaf Fund that will enable investors to grow their financial assets and channel investment return for Wakaf which will in return uplift underprivileged communities.
The Wakaf instrument mainly targets exposure to the Sukuk market, through a diversified portfolio of Shariah-compliant assets and equities both locally and globally.
