November 2022 · Bonds as Tools for Impact

Bonds are a major component of building our society, and while they are largely invisible to the average investor, they are woven into the fabric of life on this planet. Sovereign governments use the debt markets to finance spending programs. Local municipalities access the market to build infrastructure such as roads and water systems that serve entire communities. Schools, universities, and hospitals need the debt markets for improvements and expansion.

June 2022 · Actively Managing Islamic Investments

As the largest manager of Islamic investments in the United States, we believe that in the realm of Islamic investing, a truly passive option doesn’t exist. Instead, we ask where the active decisions are being made; in the choices of which screening methods are used to design the index, or in the implementation of screening methods in the actual investment portfolio?

April 2022 · Climate Risks and Sovereign Issuers: Sailing into an Environmental Storm?

This edition of From The Yardarm examines how effectively ESG ratings firms assess sovereign ESG factors, especially concerning the environment. We will discuss climate initiatives formed by the United Nations and examine how sustainability regulations and investors' behavioral biases are potentially increasing risk rather than reducing it.

December 2020 · Islamic Investing 2.0: The Way Forward

Traditional Islamic-compliant mutual funds have served Muslim investors well in the four decades since the first was launched in Malaysia. By fostering partnership in shared risk and reward (musharaka), and by allowing investors to diversify their assets while avoiding haram activities — typically alcohol, tobacco, gaming, financial services, pork processing, and pornography.

July 2020 · Beyond Bonds: Are Gulf-Region Sukuk the Ultimate Asset Allocation Tools?

This primer provides an overview of the investment landscape and characteristics of sharia-compliant investment certificates, referred to as sukuk, as a market niche that continues to evolve.  We cover the risk and return attributes of sukuk and explore their relationship to changes in the price of oil; an important point to consider since hydrocarbons largely drive sukuk issuers’ economies. 

May 2020 · Feeding 10 Billion People in a Climate-Changing World

By 2050, nearly 10 billion people will live on our planet. In order to sustain this population and our growing demand for resource-intensive animal-based foods, the World Resources Institute estimates that crop production will need to increase by 56% from a 2010 baseline.

January 2020 · Relics of the Past? Disruptive Innovation in the Telecom Industry

The telecom industry has seen tremendous worldwide growth in recent years as consumers use an increasing number of applications and services. Despite meaningful subscriber and data growth over the last decade, US telecom industry revenue has grown only modestly. We believe several factors explain the disconnect: competition, regulations, and disruption from over-the-top providers.

December 2019 · How to Evaluate the "Sustainability" of Sustainable Mutual Funds

Sustainable investing has come a long way. In its early days, investment managers, like Saturna Capital, created faith-based investment processes, focused on excluding companies or industries that conflicted with the tenets of an investor’s faith. This led to proactive investing, a process that encourages companies, sectors, and regions to engage in better business practices.

April 2019 · Evaluating Islamic Standards: Islamic Investing and its Evolution from Niche to Mainstream

While the Quran encourages trade and investment – and provides guidance for how Muslims should approach these activities – formalized financial processes did not begin to develop until the mid-20th Century. In this piece, we discuss the evolution of Islamic screening and step through various methodologies present in the market.

December 2018 · Beyond The Facade

As more asset managers begin to integrate ESG criteria into their investment strategies, data and disclosures not typically found in traditional financial reporting has increased. Transparency into nonfinancial, material risks has tremendous value, but the information that gets reported can occasionally be suspect.