Active Global Equity Shariah ETF Report | February 2025

Shariah Active ETF Key Takeaways

As goes January, so goes the year. Despite questionable statistical support, investors favoring market aphorisms may be cheered by performance in the first month of 2025. In January the S&P 500, NASDAQ, Stoxx Europe 600, Japan’s Topix Index and even emerging markets registered positive returns. That said, the month was not without its volatility, especially in the tech-heavy United States. The announcement that China’s DeepSeek had achieved Artificial Intelligence (AI) performance comparable to major models in the US such as ChatGPT and Claude, sparked a dramatic sell-off in stocks including Nvidia, Broadcom, ASML, TSMC and others. That DeepSeek managed to achieve its impressive performance despite being denied access to the most advanced chips from Nvidia and with a dramatically smaller investment in its Large Language Model (LLM) than peers threw into doubt the whole narrative that has been built around AI development and LLM investment. US hyperscalers, aware of the DeepSeek developments, have remained committed to increasing capex in building out their AI capabilities. Whether that continues lies beyond our ability to predict but the AI investment theme has clearly become more complex

In January, the Shariah ETF returned 2.65%, in line with appropriate Islamic benchmarks, while slightly trailing the conventional global index. Stock selection was strongest in the communications sector, with Nintendo and Alphabet both performing well. Consumer discretionary, a difficult sector in 2024, also did well with AutoZone and Lowe’s appreciating, as did Lululemon, continuing its recovery from last summer’s sell-off. Healthcare contributed to positive returns with nearly all our holdings appreciating, led by Boston Scientific and AstraZeneca. Novo Nordisk was the outlier despite very strong Phase 1/2 results for its GLP-1 / Amycretin dual agonist drug. Unsurprisingly, technology was the largest detractor from ETF returns, featuring the weakest selection, as all four of the companies mentioned in the first paragraph are held. Nvidia was the worst performer, dropping just over 12%. Broadcom, which carries a larger weight in the ETF, made the largest negative contribution to returns, despite falling less than Nvidia.

Source of all performance data: HANetf / Bloomberg as of 31.01.2025. Additional sources available upon request. Please note that all performance figures are showing net data. Past performance is not indicative of future performance and when you invest in ETFs your capital is at risk.

The most beautiful word : “To me the most beautiful word in the dictionary is “tariff.” So said Donald Trump in a pre-election speech.  The new president entered February making good on his view by slapping 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% on China. While a call with the Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum led to the tariffs imposed on that country’s exports being suspended for a month, the new President has demonstrated that his campaign statements concerning trade and tariffs were not just electioneering. We will not go into the tortured logic of imposing such tariffs on Canada for its supposed failures in preventing illegal immigrants and fentanyl from entering the US. Rather, we note that treating allies in such a fashion tends to make them look elsewhere for alternatives. For several years US stock market returns have led the world but if leadership embarks on an extended policy of burning bridges in response to perceived slights, there’s no guarantee that will continue. Interestingly, Europe performed considerably better than the US in January, partially due to its insulation from Chinese AI developments. But how many are aware that over the 12 months through January 31, 2025 Germany’s DAX 40 Index outperformed the S&P5 500 Index?

Shariah Active ETF Performance Table

As of 31/01/2025

AMAL (Fund)
1M2.99%
3M-0.21%
6M6.42%
YTD11.54%
12M16.65%
3Y59.20%
Since Inception (28/09/2020)55.12%


Please note that all performance figures are showing net data. Source: Bloomberg / HANetf. Data as of 31.08.2026

Performance before inception is based on back-tested data. Backtesting is the process of evaluating an investment strategy by applying it to historical data to simulate what the performance of such a strategy would have been. Back-tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance. Past performance for the index is in USD. Past performance is not an indicator for future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product. Investors should read the prospectus of the Issuer (“Prospectus”) before investing and should refer to the section of the Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of risks associated with an investment in this product. When you invest in ETFs your capital is at risk.

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