We are close to the end of the topics we planned to blog about. All of you have a better sense of how we see the world and how important it is for everyone to follow a Duty of Care. Relevance, Trust, and Impact (and the hashtag #RTI) is our shorthand for the intended result when each of us exercise a Duty of Care. Read the ninth, and final, post, Where do we go from here?
We have addressed a wide range of issues related to sustainability, yet the actual word has hardly been used. We take this commonly-used word for granted, so it generally goes undefined. Read the eighth post, Governance and Sustainability.
Both of us have had careers in finance for much of our adult lives, and that’s why we want these blog posts to help you connect ethics with finance and investing; especially Islamic finance.
The attractiveness of an investment can be evaluated by looking at the prospects for return and the degree of risk. An attractive investment is one where the likely returns are high, and the perceived risks are low. When two investments have comparable prospects, but one has less risk, the less risky option is the better choice. Read the seventh post, Governance and Risk in Islamic Investing.
There has been a lot of positive feedback from “The Virtuous Cycle” post. We are glad. The cycle is an intuitive and powerful idea. In this post, we would like to explore the foundation for a virtuous cycle. Simply put, governance is profoundly important in getting the cycle started and in keeping it effective. Read the sixth post, Governance is Foundational.
In the prior blog posts we discussed that each of us has “A Duty of Care” and that duty is guided by our faith. Fortunately, the common themes in the guidance across all major faiths, along with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), help us increase our individual impact through the power of numbers and through collaboration. Read the fifth post, The Virtuous Cycle.
To have big impact, people must work together. The power of collaboration can be profound. It has been very emotional watching the citizens of Malaysia open a door to a brighter future through the recent election. The sort of power we recently saw in Malaysia is available on many topics. Read the fourth post, Can I Make a Difference.
Following the Maqasid al Shariah is much more than a compliance issue. It is a way of life. We often hear about ‘form over substance’ or conversely ‘substance over form.’ Both of us lean towards the substance over form approach, and in many ways, it has been discussions in this idiom that have developed our friendship and our line of thought on many topics. Read the third post, More Than This.
There is immense power and potential for impact when people share common ideas and work together. We see examples around the world, and technology such as social media can help bring people together more rapidly. How can we bring together the many voices that seek to apply values in the financial system in order to shape a better world? Read the second post, More Similarities Than Differences.
Kurt Lieberman has partnered with David (Daud) Vicary (Abdullah), a Chartered Islamic Finance Professional, to collaborate on a series of regular articles for the newly re-branded IslamicMarkets.com. Daud is a widely published commentator and speaker on Islamic Finance and co-authored, with Keon Chee, “Islamic Finance: Why it Makes Sense.” He is also retired CEO of INCEIF, the largest Islamic finance university in the world. Read their first post, Conversations on Applying Values to Investing.
