Screening and index methodology
SPUS and HLAL start from different index families. SPUS tracks the S&P 500 Shariah Industry Exclusions Index, administered by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and co-developed with the fund's sub-adviser ShariaPortfolio, with Raqaba LLC acting as Sharia adviser to ShariaPortfolio. HLAL tracks the FTSE Shariah USA Index, administered by FTSE International Limited, whose components are screened by Shariah consultants Yasaar Limited. Both apply rules-based screens that exclude prohibited business activities and excessive leverage, but the index, the administrator and the screening consultant are different, so the two funds can hold different stocks.
Holdings (separate dated lists)
Both providers publish dated holdings lists. They are shown here only as references to each fund's own official document — this page does not merge them or produce a holdings-overlap percentage, because the two lists use different index universes and reporting dates. Always read each list with its own effective date.
Fees and practical costs
SPUS reports an expense ratio of 0.45% and HLAL reports 0.50%. Both trade on US exchanges (SPUS on NYSE Arca, HLAL on NASDAQ), so a GCC investor pays brokerage, currency-conversion and settlement costs on top of the fund's own expense ratio. Those platform costs are not part of either fund's expense ratio.
Performance figures and their limitations
The annualized since-inception returns shown in the table are third-party data from the calculator's public snapshot, not official provider NAV returns, and each carries its own reporting date. SPUS incepted in December 2019 and HLAL in July 2019, so their figures cover different windows and are not a like-for-like comparison.
Distribution policy difference
SPUS distributes monthly, while HLAL's fund page lists an annual distribution. Wahed's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information describe HLAL dividends as declared and paid at least annually, so the fund page and the fund's own documents use different wording — the difference is recorded here rather than silently normalised.
Research checklist
Before choosing, confirm on each provider's current documents: the benchmark and index administrator, the screening consultant, the expense ratio, the inception date, the distribution frequency, and the holdings list with its effective date. Then decide which index and provider approach you prefer — this page does not declare a winner.