A review of Islamic mutual funds’ financial performance and investment style in Muslim and non-Muslim countries

Islamic finance has grown beyond its reputation of providing small-scale banking options and now provides investment and financing options for complex large-scale commercial transactions. Islamic investments are one area that has attracted the attention of investors due to its performance, especially during the economic downturn. The Shari’ah compliance nature of Islamic funds provides an opportunity for those Muslim investors to be part of the global investment sector who have previously been reluctant to invest in conventional mutual funds. The fact that the funds’ managers are prohibited from investing in activities such as weapons production, alcohol production and interest-bearing finance operations, makes Islamic mutual funds also attractive for those Non-Muslim investors who wish to invest ethically. Today there are hundreds of Islamic equity indices offered by Dow Jones, FTSE, MSCI and S&P. Despite the growing importance of Islamic funds, there have been limited studies exploring the performance of Islamic funds worldwide. Due to very limited data sets and not too rigorous analytical methods, these existent studies have neither investigated Islamic funds’ financial performance in noticeable detail nor analysed the investment style of more than six funds. For instance, relevant questions such as the financial performance of Islamic mutual funds’ beyond their investment styles or a difference in performance between funds from Muslim and non-Muslim countries have nearly not been investigated at all. Very recently, a study by Hoepner, Rammal and Rezec (2011) analysed the financial performance and investment style of 262 Islamic equity funds from 20 countries in five regions (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Gulf Cooperative Council-GCC, and North America). As comparison, previous studies did not even analyse 60 funds. Hoepner et al.’s study sampled a period of two decades and was therefore able to test the performance of the funds during economic booms as well as economic downturns. The findings of the study provide new insights into the performance of Islamic mutual funds in Muslim and Western markets and during financial crisis.

The Impact of Transnational Conflicts on Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria (2001-2006)

This Master’s Thesis examines transnational conflicts and Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria between the years 2001 and 2006. It focuses on two major transnational conflicts: The September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the Danish cartoon controversy of 2005/2006. It discusses the impact of these transnational conflicts on Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria in the light of the implementation of the Sharia Law in some northern Nigerian states and the improved access to the broadcast media and mobile telephone communication in Nigeria. By underscoring the relationship between transnational conflicts and the local context, this study provides a new perspective for understanding Christian-Muslim relations in Nigeria

Defining leadership in China: a literature review – how is leadership defined in China by scholars based on a review of published researches since 2000?

A partir do ano de 2000, o processo de internacionalização da China se intensificou e tornou ainda mais visível as diferenças culturais diante das perspectivas Ocidentais. Uma delas é a divergência entre as práticas de gestão e liderança. Baseada em uma revisão de literatura de 234 artigos publicados em periódicos com fator de impacto acima de 1.0, esta dissertação identifica como estudiosos definem liderança na China desde 2000 até hoje. Os resultados podem ser divididos em três grupos: perspectiva das Teorias Ocidentais, perspectiva das Teorias Orientais e perspectiva teorias combinadas onde os Estudos Interculturais e a Liderança Transformacional dominaram as perspectivas adotadas pelos pesquisadores (estes incluídos no grupo de perspectiva das Teorias Ocidentais). Na perspectiva das Teorias Orientais, o Confucionismo e o Guanxi foram os mais citados. Enquanto na perspectiva das Teorias Combinadas, Confucionismo e o Guanxi foram misturados com várias Teorias Ocidentais. Portanto, embora haja uma forte cultura local, a perspectiva mais adotada pelos periódicos internacionais e estudiosos para olhar a e analisar a liderança na China foram os Estudos Interculturais e a Liderança Transformacional.