MALAYSIA: The local venture capital industry is expected to grow its assets under management by 25% this year from RM5.4 billion (US$1.72 billion) currently, boosted by Islamic funds; on the back of a conducive economic environment and growing demand from investors for alternative financial assets, said Darawati Hussain, the chairman of the Malaysian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
“A lot of our members are going out to raise (private equity and venture capital) funds. In the next one or two years, you will see some new funds being launched and most of them will be Islamic structured because there is a lot of interest from Shariah-conscious investors to deploy their money to this region,” she added.