“Shariah Investment-Pocketbook”: An Initiative to Develop Shariah Investment Awareness in Malaysia
University Technology MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
“Shariah Investment-Pocket” is one of the preliminary initiatives to develop Shariah investment awareness in Malaysia by exposes them with the background and knowledge on the practices governed under the Islamic practices. The objectives of “Shariah Investment-Pocketbook” are; i) to empower investors to be more actives in their investments and investment decision-making to ensure they achieve greater financial needs and wealth maximization; ii) to provide a platform to the public to gain knowledge and information; iii) to protect public from investing in non-halal products; iv) to provide guidance to investors investing in and selling Shariah compliant securities of Shariah investment in Bursa Malaysia; v) to recommend the best practices for investors to adopt as part of their respective Shariah compliant securities and trading processes and activities; and vi) to provide a comprehensive market for Shariah investment communities to strengthen Malaysia's position in the eyes of issuers of global instruments and investors. The method applied in this study was by made a comparison of total Shariah compliant investment on Bursa Malaysia, from May 2007 until January 2018. Based on the findings, it showed that the numbers of investments as Shariah compliant on Bursa Malaysia were declining. Therefore, “Shariah Investment-Pocketbook” is one of the initiatives to enhance the awareness of Shariah investment in Malaysia, not only to the existing investors but also are important to the institutional investors, potential investors, public, issuers, intermediaries and regulators. Moreover, “Shariah Investment-Pocketbook” had participated at International Invention, Innovation & Technology Design Competition 2018 (ITeC) on 27th February 2018, at Dewan Biduanda Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Cawangan Negeri Sembilan, Kampus Rembau, Malaysia; and had been awarded Gold Award for Social Science Category.
KEYWORDS
Shariah investment, investors, investment decision making, Shariah compliant