The Public Perception on Knowledge of Islamic Unit Trust in Malaysia
Ruqayyah Abdul Aziz, Rusni Hassan, Syed Ahmed Salman, Wisma Lincoln

Abstract
This paper sought to identify the public perception of Islamic unit trust fund in Malaysia from the perspective of investors and non-investors. Three aspects had been analysed i.e. (i) general knowledge on Islamic unit trust fund; (ii) knowledge on fund manager; and (iii) knowledge on the regulatory body and stock screening. The method used in this paper was descriptive analysis. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed through a simple random sampling. The findings indicated that the respondents were aware of the existence of Islamic unit trust fund, significantly opined on a contrast between conventional and Islamic unit trust fund. The respondents, however, only had an average understanding on the familiarity of investing in unit trust. The knowledge on fund manager was considered good as the awareness in selecting a skilful fund manager was high. On the other hand, the knowledge on the regulatory body and stock screening were adequate, with a slight misconception on the benchmark of stock screening adopted by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). This study contributed towards a better understanding of the public perception hence aiding relevant authorities to draw effective measures in encouraging people into investing in the Islamic unit trust fund.

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