KUALA LUMPUR (March 28): The size of the Islamic capital market (ICM) increased to RM2.31 trillion as at end-2021 from RM2.26 trillion as at end-2020, according to the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)’s 2021 annual report released on Monday (March 28).

This comprised a total market capitalisation of Shariah-compliant securities of RM1.2 trillion and total sukuk outstanding amounting to RM1.1 trillion.

The Islamic capital market (ICM) remains a key component to the Malaysian capital market, contributing 65.40% to its total size.

As at Dec 2021, Shariah-compliant securities increased to 750, from 742 at end-2020, which constituted 79.03% of the 949 listed securities on Bursa Malaysia.

The market capitalisation of Shariah-compliant securities stood at RM1.2 trillion or 67.31% of total market capitalisation, a decrease of 2.77% compared to end-2020.

Corporate sukuk issuances represented 79.98% (2020: 73.61%) of total corporate bonds and sukuk issuances, while corporate sukuk outstanding accounted for 81.42% (2020: 81.03%) of total corporate bonds and sukuk outstanding.

Total sukuk issuances in 2021 represented 62.91% (2020: 61.07%) of total bonds and sukuk issuances, whereas total sukuk outstanding represented 63.43% (2020: 63.26%) of total bonds and sukuk outstanding.

Nine issuers issued sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) sukuk in 2021, bringing the total SRI sukuk issuers to 21 since 2015.

Corporate SRI sukuk issuance in 2021 amounted to RM2.81 billion, which was 3.07% of total corporate sukuk issuance, while corporate SRI sukuk outstanding grew to RM8.11 billion as at December 2021, from RM5.40 billion in 2020, constituting 1.29% of total corporate sukuk outstanding.

Islamic asset under management (AUM) as at Dec 2021 stood at RM224.80 billion, registering a 3.69% increase from RM216.80 billion as at end-2020.

The number of Islamic collective investment schemes (CIS) stood at 386 as at Dec 2021, including 16 Islamic SRI funds.

Meanwhile, there were 57 fund management companies (FMCs) managing Islamic funds, with 24 full-fledged Islamic fund management companies (IFMCs) and 33 FMCs offering Islamic windows as at Dec 2021.

Read more stories from the SC Annual Report 2021 here.