Effects of focus versus diversification on bank risk and return: evidence from Islamic banks’ loan portfolios

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of a focus loan strategy on Islamic banks’ (IB) performance in three areas: sectoral, geographic and the type of Islamic instrument. This paper specifically addresses two questions. First, should IBs focus or diversify their loan portfolios? Second, how does focus in lending affect IBs’ returns and risk? Design/methodology/approach - The panel generalized linear squared method was used for regressions throughout the paper. Data used in the analysis were extracted from IBs’ publicly available regulatory reports in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The sample is an unbalanced panel that includes financial data on 26 banks during the period 2010–2018. Findings - Focusing on Islamic instruments and economic sectors would harm IBs’ profitability while reducing their risks. Geographic focus increased the profitability of IBs, but it also increased their default risk. The focus in Islamic instruments was beneficial when risk is low to moderate, but when the risk of an IB increased, it was better to diversify across Islamic instruments. Focus in geographical areas, on the other hand, had a non-linear U-shaped relationship with return, which means that when IBs’ risk is high, focusing their loans in one geographic area enhances their returns. Originality/value - This paper fills the existing gap in Islamic banking literature regarding the focus/diversification dilemma. It is the first attempt to study the effect of focus in three areas (sectoral, geographic and instrument used) on the return and risk of IBs.