Bursa Malaysia to launch FTSE 4Good Index

by **Cals** Wed 11 Jun 2014, 01:53

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Shalini Kumar of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 10 June 2014 10:05

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd will launch its FTSE 4Good Index by the end of this year by starting to track the top 200 companies listed on the local bourse to form a database for the index basket.

“We not only would like to provide an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) index, we also want to provide a certain level of benchmark, with the impending launch of our FTSE 4Good Index,” said Bursa chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan.

Bursa’s FTSE 4Good Index will be the first in Asia to be a part of the globally benchmarked ESG index series.

Elaborating on the FTSE 4Good Index, Bursa securities market director Ong Li Lee said Malaysia would be the first to use international methodology to track 14 main themes such as corruption and sourcing of labour along the supply chain.

“FTSE is also reviewing their methodology... previously they used to have a very broad overview of six themes, but now that they know demand is there, they are breaking it down even further to cover more themes,” she said.

“What we’re hoping to achieve is that we will be able to attract socially responsible investment funds which are growing around the world. This could mean new investment opportunities for everyone, because once we have the index we will then be able to create other products,” Ong added.

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Bursa Malaysia Derivatives chief executive officer Chong Kim Seng, Tajuddin and Ong at the press conference during the Invest Malaysia 2014.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 10, 2014.[/size]