Amana Mutual Funds Trust, advised by Saturna Capital of Bellingham, Washington, runs four halal mutual funds: Amana Growth (AMAGX), Amana Income (AMANX), Amana Developing World (AMDWX) and Amana Participation (AMAPX). Each has Investor shares with a $100 direct minimum and Institutional shares with a $100,000 minimum. Investor-class expense ratios in the September 28, 2026 summary prospectuses run from 0.81% for AMAPX to 1.20% for AMDWX, roughly double what the SPUS and HLAL ETFs charge. For most US Muslims the sensible picks are AMAGX for growth, AMANX for dividend income and AMAPX as the sukuk sleeve; AMDWX is optional. This review compares all four using the SEC filings and Saturna's own pages, and sits alongside our halal investing hub.
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What the four Amana funds actually hold
The family began with the Amana Income Fund in June 1986, created after Dr. Mirza approached Nick Kaiser in 1986 about a fund Muslim investors could use without compromise; Saturna's site notes both founders have since passed away. Growth followed in February 1994, Developing World in September 2009 and Participation in September 2015. All four share the same Islamic rules in their prospectuses: no interest-paying investments, no companies primarily engaged in alcohol, tobacco, pork, pornography, interest-based finance, weapons or gambling, and a preference for holding stocks for several years rather than trading them.
The differences are in mandate. AMAGX buys common stocks, including ADRs and foreign shares, for long-term capital growth and principally follows a large-cap style. AMANX buys dividend-paying stocks with current income as its primary objective and capital preservation second. AMDWX puts at least 80% of net assets in companies with significant exposure to developing economies, defined as 50% or more of production assets or revenues outside the United States, or a principal place of business in a developing market. AMAPX puts at least 80% of net assets in short and intermediate-term Islamic income instruments, mainly sukuk, with capital preservation as its primary objective; up to 25% can sit in a wholly owned Cayman Islands subsidiary that holds the same kind of certificates.
| Fund | Ticker (Investor / Institutional) | Objective | Began operations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amana Income | AMANX / AMINX | Current income, then capital preservation | June 23, 1986 |
| Amana Growth | AMAGX / AMIGX | Long-term capital growth, large-cap style | February 3, 1994 |
| Amana Developing World | AMDWX / AMIDX | Long-term growth in emerging markets | September 28, 2009 |
| Amana Participation | AMAPX / AMIPX | Capital preservation, then current income (sukuk) | September 28, 2015 |
Expense ratios, minimums and share classes side by side
Every Amana fund has two share classes. Investor shares carry a 0.25% 12b-1 distribution fee on top of the management fee; Institutional shares drop the 12b-1 fee but require $100,000 to open. The management fee itself is identical across classes: 0.58% for Growth, 0.71% for Income, 0.80% for Developing World and 0.50% for Participation. Other expenses are small, between 0.03% and 0.18%. None of the funds charges a sales load, redemption fee or account fee, so the expense ratio is the whole recurring cost if you buy direct.
| Fund | Investor ER | Institutional ER | Minimum (Investor / Institutional) | Turnover, last fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMAGX / AMIGX | 0.86% | 0.61% | $100 / $100,000 | 12.09% |
| AMANX / AMINX | 0.99% | 0.75% | $100 / $100,000 | 10.09% |
| AMDWX / AMIDX | 1.20% | 0.98% | $100 / $100,000 | 14.37% |
| AMAPX / AMIPX | 0.81% | 0.57% | $100 / $100,000 | 35.23% |
The prospectus cost example puts numbers on this. A $10,000 position in AMAGX Investor shares costs $88 in year one and $1,061 over ten years assuming a 5% annual return; the Institutional class costs $62 and $759. For AMDWX the ten-year figures are $1,455 and $1,201. Additional purchases can be as small as $25 once an account is open, which is the feature that makes Amana work for people investing a few hundred dollars a month.
How Saturna screens stocks and who reviews the funds
Saturna describes a two-stage process on its Amana pages. Quantitative screens exclude gambling, alcohol, tobacco, pornography, weapons, pork and fossil fuel extraction, then remove companies with more than 5% of revenue from prohibited sources, total debt above 33% of market capitalization, or accounts receivable above 45% of total assets. Saturna says its proprietary software screens, grades and monitors more than 5,000 securities each month and that roughly 2,150 pass the Islamic screens. Qualitative analysis of competitive position, management and growth markets follows, with analysts in the United States and Malaysia.
The funds are reviewed quarterly by Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd, an independent board of scholars that Saturna names on its site. Because the funds hold no interest-paying instruments, uninvested cash does not earn interest; the prospectuses say it may be placed in short-term murabaha and wakala certificates instead. Saturna publishes an Investing and Zakat guide under its Learning pages, but the summary prospectuses we read do not state a purification ratio, so check the fund's annual report or ask Saturna's investor services for the current figure before you calculate.
Performance against benchmarks through December 31, 2025
The September 2026 summary prospectuses report average annual total returns for periods ended December 31, 2025. Growth has been the standout: AMAGX returned 16.38% a year over ten years against 14.93% for the Bloomberg US Large Cap Index, and its Institutional class returned 16.66%. Income returned 11.62% a year over ten years, ahead of the Bloomberg 1000 Value Index at 11.07% but behind the broad large-cap index. Developing World returned 6.70% a year over ten years against 8.93% for the Bloomberg Emerging Markets Large, Mid and Small Index. Participation returned 2.39% a year over ten years against 1.26% for the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond Index.
| Fund (Investor shares) | 1 year | 5 years | 10 years | Primary benchmark, 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMAGX | 17.62% | 12.64% | 16.38% | Bloomberg US Large Cap 14.93% |
| AMANX | 16.37% | 10.77% | 11.62% | Bloomberg US Large Cap 14.93% |
| AMDWX | 19.94% | 5.13% | 6.70% | Bloomberg EM Large, Mid and Small 8.93% |
| AMAPX | 5.97% | 1.46% | 2.39% | Bloomberg Global Aggregate 1.26% |
Volatility is real. AMAGX's worst quarter was a 14.52% loss in Q2 2022 and its best a 22.63% gain in Q2 2020. AMANX lost 18.01% in Q1 2020. AMAPX, the conservative fund, still lost 3.44% in Q1 2020 and has compounded at only 1.46% a year over the five years to 2025, which tells you it is a bond substitute and not a savings account. Year-to-date returns to June 30, 2026 were 19.39% for AMAGX, 13.13% for AMDWX and 2.00% for AMAPX. The Growth fund's managers changed in September 2026 to a three-person team of Monem Salam, Levi Stewart Zurbrugg and Jason Mitchell, so future results will not be produced by exactly the people who produced the past ones.
Buying direct at Saturna versus through Fidelity or Schwab
Direct is the cheapest route for small investors. The prospectus says you open an Investor account by sending a completed application, a photocopy of a government-issued ID and a check for $100 or more payable to the fund, then add $25 or more at any time. The prospectus points to Saturna's literature pages for online forms and to 888-732-6262 for telephone requests. The Investor share class's 0.25% 12b-1 fee is what pays brokerage platforms for distribution, which is why Amana appears on many brokers' no-transaction-fee lists; the prospectus also warns that these payments can create a conflict of interest for a salesperson recommending the fund.
We could not verify the current no-transaction-fee status or minimum for AMAGX, AMANX, AMDWX and AMAPX on Fidelity's or Schwab's fund pages during this review, and brokers change these lists. Before buying through a brokerage, open the fund's page on your broker, check whether it is marked NTF, check the broker's initial minimum (brokers often set their own, which can differ from Saturna's $100), and check whether automatic investments are allowed. If a transaction fee applies, buying direct at Saturna or using the ETF route in our mutual funds versus ETFs guide will be cheaper.
Distributions, taxes and where to hold each fund
Each prospectus states that distributions may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income or capital gains. The after-tax return tables show how much that costs. Over ten years AMAGX returned 16.38% before taxes and 15.24% after taxes on distributions, a drag of about 1.1 points a year at the highest federal rate. AMANX, which pays more income, dropped from 11.62% to 10.20%. AMAPX's income is sukuk profit taxed as ordinary income, and its Institutional class fell from 2.63% to 1.55% after taxes on distributions, a drag that eats a large share of a small return.
That ranking is the placement rule. If you have both a taxable account and an IRA, hold AMAPX and AMANX inside the IRA or 401(k) and keep AMAGX, with its 12% turnover and lower yield, in the taxable account. AMDWX's turnover of 14% is also low, but its 1.20% expense ratio argues for using it only where no cheaper emerging-markets fund is available. For how retirement wrappers interact with zakat on these balances, see the retirement hub.
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Amana versus SPUS and HLAL on cost and results
The two large halal US equity ETFs are the obvious alternatives. SPUS, the SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions ETF, charges 0.45% and returned 16.30% a year over the five years to December 31, 2025 according to its March 2026 summary prospectus. HLAL, the Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF, charges 0.50% and returned 13.75% over the same five years. AMAGX Investor shares charge 0.86% and returned 12.64%, while the Institutional class returned 12.91%. Over five years the ETFs won on both cost and return; over ten years AMAGX's 16.38% record predates both ETFs, so a like-for-like comparison is not possible.
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| Fund | Type | Expense ratio | 5-year return to Dec 31, 2025 | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMAGX | Active mutual fund | 0.86% | 12.64% | $100 direct |
| AMIGX | Active mutual fund (Institutional) | 0.61% | 12.91% | $100,000 |
| SPUS | Index ETF, S&P 500 Shariah exclusions | 0.45% | 16.30% | One share |
| HLAL | Index ETF, FTSE Shariah USA | 0.50% | 13.75% | One share |
Saturna has responded by launching ETF versions. Its Amana page now lists an Amana Growth ETF, an Amana Equity Income ETF and an Amana Developing World ETF established in 2026. We did not fetch their prospectuses for this review, so we cannot quote their expense ratios; if you want Saturna's active management in an ETF wrapper, read the ETF's summary prospectus on sec.gov and compare its fee with the figures above. Our SPUS versus Amana comparison covers the equity decision in more depth, and the SP Funds profile covers the ETF issuer.
Who should choose Amana over an ETF
- Investors putting $25 to $500 a month to work who want automatic purchases in dollar amounts without worrying about share prices or fractional-share support.
- Employees whose 401(k) or 403(b) menu includes an Amana fund but no halal ETF, since a fund you can hold today beats a cheaper one you cannot.
- People who want a human-managed portfolio with a 40-year record and a named scholar board rather than an index rule set.
- Savers who need a sukuk fund with a $100 minimum and monthly additions; AMAPX is one of very few US-registered sukuk funds of any kind.
- Investors who value Saturna's social and environmental exclusions, including fossil fuel extraction, which the S&P and FTSE Shariah indexes do not apply.
Who should not: anyone buying lump sums of $10,000 or more in a taxable brokerage account with no transaction fee on ETFs. At that size the 0.36 to 0.49 point fee gap between AMAGX and SPUS or HLAL compounds into real money, and the ETFs' tax efficiency adds more. Our Amana Growth Fund review runs that arithmetic for the single fund.
Verdict: what a 30-year-old and a 60-year-old should hold
A 30-year-old with a Roth IRA and a brokerage account should use SPUS or HLAL as the core and add AMAGX only where a fund is the only option, for example inside an employer plan or for a $50 monthly automatic purchase. Skip AMDWX unless you specifically want active emerging-markets exposure and accept 1.20% for it. A 60-year-old building income should pair AMANX for dividends with AMAPX for stability, both inside an IRA, and keep two years of spending in an FDIC-insured profit-sharing account rather than in AMAPX, which lost money in early 2020. For either reader, Amana is a legitimate, long-running, scholar-reviewed choice; it is simply no longer the cheapest one. Compare the alternatives in the best halal investments guide and check the Amana Funds profile for our standing verdict.
Facts checked against saturna.com, sec.gov on September 8, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Are Amana mutual funds halal?
Yes, by design and by independent review. All four Amana funds exclude interest-paying investments and prohibited industries, apply debt and receivables ratio screens, and are reviewed quarterly by Amanie Advisors, an independent Shariah board named on Saturna's site. Uninvested cash is placed in murabaha and wakala certificates rather than interest-bearing deposits. As with any equity fund, a small purification amount may apply to incidental income, so check the fund report.
What is the minimum investment for Amana funds?
The Investor share classes (AMAGX, AMANX, AMDWX, AMAPX) require $100 to open an account directly with Saturna, by application and check, and $25 for additional purchases. The Institutional classes (AMIGX, AMINX, AMIDX, AMIPX) require $100,000. Brokerages may set their own minimums, so check your broker's fund page before assuming the $100 figure applies there.
Which is better, Amana Income Fund or Amana Growth Fund?
For long-term growth, AMAGX has the stronger record: 16.38% a year over the ten years to December 31, 2025 against 11.62% for AMANX, and a lower expense ratio of 0.86% against 0.99%. AMANX suits investors who want dividend income and lower volatility, and it belongs in an IRA because its distributions are taxed every year. Younger investors should favor Growth; retirees often hold both.
Is Amana cheaper than SPUS or HLAL?
No. AMAGX Investor shares cost 0.86% a year and AMANX 0.99%, while SPUS costs 0.45% and HLAL 0.50% according to their 2026 summary prospectuses. Amana's Institutional classes narrow the gap to 0.61% and 0.75% but require $100,000. Amana's advantages are the $25 automatic purchase option, active management and a longer record, not price.
Does Amana pay capital gains distributions?
It can. Each prospectus states that distributions may be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividends or capital gains. Turnover is low, between 10% and 14% for the three equity funds, which limits realized gains, but the after-tax return tables show a tax drag of roughly one percentage point a year on AMAGX and 1.4 points on AMANX at the top federal rate. Holding the income-heavy funds in an IRA avoids this.
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Can I hold Amana funds in a 401(k) or IRA?
Yes. Amana funds are ordinary open-end mutual funds, so any IRA custodian that carries them can hold them, and Saturna's site lists a national sales and institutional retirement plans team that places the funds on employer menus. If your 401(k) offers only the Institutional class, you benefit from the lower fee without meeting the $100,000 minimum yourself. If your plan has no halal option, a brokerage window may let you buy Amana or a halal ETF.
