Md Iftekhar Hasan Chowdhury

Citation

Thesis Title
Essays on Islamic Equity Investment

The Islamic equity market is the main platform of Islamic corporate investment. Mr Chowdhury presented three self-contained studies on Islamic equity investment. The first study addressed the systematic risk exposure of a sample of equities that have transitioned to Shari'ah compliant, Islamic equities. He reported that Shari'ah compliance makes the adopted equities less risky over the long-term with improved market information. The second study examined the return and volatility spillovers across Islamic equity markets. It found increasing interactions in return and volatility spillovers, while spillovers have been asymmetric across the countries. Geographic proximity, along with economic linkages, explain the directions of such spillovers. Mr Chowdhury's third study focused on the investment style of actively managed Islamic equity funds. He reported increasing shifts in the underlying styles. Islamic funds are more likely to alter their portfolio exposure following the negative performance. Collectively, these studies provide valuable new insights on Islamic equity investment to market participants.

Supervisors
Professor Faruk Balli
Professor Anne De Bruin