Active Global Equity Shariah ETF Report | September 2024

Shariah Active ETF Key Takeaways

One significant difference among global markets is the degree of concentration. The remarkable performance of the mega-cap US technology stocks has led to the top ten US stocks by market capitalization accounting for 37.4% of the S&P 500 as of June 30th. The eight largest are all technology stocks with positions nine and ten taken by Berkshire Hathaway and Eli Lilly.

By contrast, in Japan and Europe the top ten stocks account for 22.4% of the TOPIX 500 Index and 20.9% of the STOXX Europe 600. In addition to lower concentration, the markets feature greater diversification. In Japan automotive, telecommunications, financial, retail, media and staffing companies are included among the top ten. Europe has ASML but the other positions are occupied by pharmaceuticals, luxury, food and cosmetics companies. In the event of market disruption, greater diversification may provide downside index protection.

In August the Shariah Active ETF gained 2.81%, well ahead of comparable global Islamic and conventional benchmarks. Healthcare provided the largest contribution to fund returns on solid stock selection. For much of the year healthcare performance has leaned on GLP-1 stars Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. In August we saw strong performance from a more diverse group with AstraZeneca, GSK, Edwards Life and Boston Scientific appreciating by double-digit percentages.

Technology was the second largest contributor. Unlike healthcare no investments registered a double-digit return, but portfolio selections still outpaced the benchmark. Stock selection in consumer staples and industrials was excellent leading to positive contributions, primarily from Kenvue and Trane Technologies. The communications and materials sectors detracted from returns. In the former both Alphabet and Nintendo declined during the month, as did our sole materials investment Antofagasta.

Source of all performance data: HANetf / Bloomberg as of 31.08.2024. 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.

What goes up…

During the summer an interesting performance divergence emerged among the stocks formerly known as the Magnificent Seven. While Nvidia continues to garner outsize attention, from its peak on June 12th through the end of August the share price slipped -4.7%. Over the same period Microsoft dropped -5.3%, Amazon -4.5% and Alphabet
-8.1%. The latter has undoubtedly suffered from the Department of Justice case accusing it of monopolizing digital advertising.

Meanwhile, previous laggards and less obvious AI plays Apple and Tesla have rebounded 7.5% and 20.8% respectively. Viewed from a sector perspective, performance has flipped with utilities, real estate and health care occupying the top slots and technology falling to last place.

Despite the reordering, overall index performance in the US has remained steady with the S&P 500 Index returning 4.5% from June 12th through the end of August. One could plausibly build a case that utilities and real estate are late comers to the AI party given rising electricity and data center demand. Lower interest rates also raise the attractiveness of the two sectors. The broadening of healthcare performance beyond the diabetes/weight loss leaders Lilly and Novo, however, indicates concern that the conventional soft-landing wisdom may be coming under pressure.

We do not know if investors will take the near certain rate cut coming from the Federal Reserve in Mid-September as a needed tonic to keep the economy humming or an indication of more difficult times ahead. We lean toward the former but believe the portfolio to be well-positioned regardless of the economy’s direction of travel.

Shariah Active ETF Performance Table                                                                                                                
As of 31/08/2024

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 31/07/2024

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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