Measuring Risk And Return Of Sustainable And Responsible Investment (Sri) Sukuk In Malaysia

The Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) sukuk is a financing instrument that could utilize Islamic finance to tap into the growing social impact investment markets around the world. Given the novelty of the SRI sukuk, it is still relatively unexplored. To further contribute to the development of SRI sukuk, this paper aims to provide a critical review on how the Sukuk Ihsan compare to Malaysia sovereign bonds, Malaysia Islamic sovereign bonds, Malaysia corporate issued AAA-rated bonds and other educational social impact bonds around the world. I find that the SRI sukuk is significantly different from similar AAA-rated corporate bonds, Islamic sovereign bond and Malaysia sovereign bond. The SRI sukuk is riskier than Islamic sovereign bond and Malaysia sovereign bond but less risky than similar AAA-rated corporate bonds. There is also significant difference between SRI sukuk and other educational social impact bonds. The yield spread of SRI sukuk and sovereign bonds tend to be on the lower side when compared with other educational social impact bonds and is attributed to its credit rating and bond structure.