Active Global Equity Shariah ETF Report | May 2025

Shariah Active ETF Key Takeaways

In the immediate wake of the April 2nd tariff announcement in the US, markets continued the slide that had started mid-February, dropping by over -10% in the first week of the month. Soon enough, the uncommon troika of declining US stock and bond markets and a sinking US dollar reportedly led to a White House intervention by the Treasury and Commerce Secretaries culminating in a presidential volte-face. A 90-day suspension of the “reciprocal” tariffs was announced, although the 10% across-the-board tariffs remained. While the reversal was not as quick as Canadian and Mexican tariff hikes imposed in the morning and removed the same afternoon, it was still an impressive climbdown. Notably, China, which had the temerity to retaliate, did not benefit from the suspension. Regardless, markets reacted positively and, by the end of the month, had recovered nearly all of April’s early drop.

In April, the Saturna Al Kawthar Global Focused Equity UCITS ETF gained 2.75%, handily outpacing appropriate Islamic and conventional benchmarks. Fund returns beat the Islamic benchmark in the industrials, communications and healthcare sectors, while underperforming in technology and consumer discretionary. Within industrials our investments in companies that provide energy efficient heating and cooling or have exposure to the data center buildout performed best. These include Trane Technologies, Eaton and Johnson Controls. Within communications, Nintendo was the top performer as it approaches the release of its latest game console. The healthcare sector declined during the month, but Fund returns were positive thanks to GSK and Swiss generics maker Sandoz. All of that said, the single greatest contributor to the relative outperformance was the absence of fossil fuel investments. As we have discussed numerous times in the past, Islamic benchmarks typically carry significant exposures to energy, while the Fund has none. In April Energy was the weakest performing sector by a wide margin, declining by over -10%.

Source of all performance data: HANetf / Bloomberg as of 30.04.2025. 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.

 

Can anyone climb down from the Great Wall of Tariffs?

While most counties around the world were issued a tariff stay, the one exception was China, which reacted to “Liberation Day” by imposing its own tariffs on American goods, leading to Trump to increase the US tariffs and Xi to respond in kind.

Although punitive tariffs remain on most goods coming from China, certain products, including iPhones and various electronics components received exemptions. Did Trump fear a groundswell of opposition arising from higher iPhone prices? Did he recall the $1 million that Tim Cook personally donated to his inaugural committee? Who can say? The strategy remains obscured. We are now in a place where various high-technology products that we might one day like to see manufactured in the US will continue to be imported from China with minimal tariffs.

Meanwhile, goods such as footwear & apparel, toys, furniture, etc. face 145% tariffs. Are those the industries the US needs to reshore to Make America Great Again? We think not. China doesn’t even want to be involved in those industries, happy to see them move to Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Such questions, however, do not get at the issue of who might retreat? So far, it’s been the US. China undoubtedly faces challenges with employment and economic growth, but it also features a political class much less subject to political pressure.

Additionally, the loss of the US as an export market means China only has to find ways to replace lost money. The US has to replace lost goods. Scheduled containership arrivals are plummeting. Rare earth exports are being restricted. Goods will cost more if they’re even available. We wouldn’t want to bet against China.

Shariah Active ETF Performance Table                                                                                                                
As of 31.08.2026

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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