Successful defense of master these on carbon reduction in Islamic ETF

Gassner's picture

On behalf of the entire Islamic finance community, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you, Yousra Baddour, on the successful completion of your Master Thesis, "SHARIAH COMPLIANT ETF WITH CLIMATE RISK MITIGATION." It is no small feat to undertake and complete a research project of this magnitude, and you have done so with great diligence, dedication, and intelligence. Thanks to Professor Thomas Cho for inviting me as expert to the oral defense.

Your thesis is groundbreaking as it demonstrates that a portfolio can be decarbonized to a large degree with minor tracking error, and this is of particular importance in Islamic portfolio management, where the carbon emitting sector is much higher weighted after Islamic screens than in conventional peers. Your findings bring to light a known problem in Islamic portfolio management and offer a solution to mitigate the climate risk.

Furthermore, your work is timely, as the asset management industry is trending towards a zero-carbon pledge globally, and it is inevitable that the Islamic finance industry will follow suit. Your research raises an important question of how to achieve this goal within the parameters of professional portfolio management.

Once again, congratulations on your outstanding achievement, and we look forward to hearing more from you in the future. For those who are interested, the full text of the thesis can be requested at Researchgate, and we encourage all to read it.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370220901_SHARIAH_COMPLIANT_ETF...
https://www.netzeroassetmanagers.org/