KUALA LUMPUR: Kenanga Investors Bhd has launched Kenanga Sustainability Series: Emergency Waqf Musa'adah Fund to help those affected by climate-related disasters.
The fund aims to primarily provide income distribution as well as achieve capital growth by investing in local and global diversified portfolios.
This includes Shariah compliant equities, Shariah compliant equity-related securities, sukuk, Islamic money market instruments, or Islamic deposits that integrate both Shariah principles as well as principles of sustainable investing.
Kenanga Investor director and chief executive officer Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis said the fund set out to generate sustainable returns that would directly benefit disaster victims in the country by helping them return to normalcy.
Ismitz said the returns would also go towards providing new or improving existing climate change disaster-control related facilities or equipment.
"We are glad to continue our partnership with Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia to develop the Islamic social finance segment and to ensure a systematic process is in place to distribute proceeds to areas or projects that require assistance", he said.
Ismitz explained that the fund will be subjected to the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) methodology in its investment strategy.
"Apart from analysing companies based on fundamentals and other value creation metrices, relevant ESG factors are incorporated as part of the securities analysis, stock selection, and post-investment portfolio monitoring.
"Moreover, a positive and negative screening process is applied to include or exclude companies that align or are deemed not aligned based on our fund manager's ESG assessment and scoring", he said.
Returns generated through the fund will be distributed by YWM to beneficiaries with assistance from Match Foundation which consists of a group of non-governmental organisations focusing on humanitarian aid and emergency relief to emergency beneficiaries.
The fund is the fourth product launched under the Kenanga Sustainability Series, a suite of multi-asset class products rooted in sustainability considerations to advance long-term financial growth for investors and to generate social and financial value for surrounding communities.
Benchmarked against an income distribution of four per cent, the fund is suitable for sophisticated investors with a medium to long-term investment horizon and are willing to contribute part of their investment returns for waqf purposes at a minimum initial investment amount of RM10,000.