MNZL and SPUS are both passive, AAOIFI-screened US equity ETFs, and they are more different than their descriptions suggest. SPUS, from SP Funds, tracks the S&P 500 Shariah Industry Exclusions Index, charges 0.45%, held $3.37 billion across 218 positions on October 4, 2026, and puts 58% of the fund in its ten largest names, led by Nvidia at 14.5%. MNZL, from Manzil, tracks a Russell 1000 based halal index with an added human rights screen, charges 0.40%, held $35.4 million across 487 positions on October 7, 2026, and holds no Nvidia, Microsoft or Alphabet. One is a concentrated large-cap fund with six years of history; the other is broader, younger, and excludes most of the companies driving the index. Our halal investing hub covers the basics; this is the head-to-head.
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Fund facts side by side from the issuer pages
| Item | MNZL | SPUS |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manzil Russell Halal USA Broad Market ETF | SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions ETF |
| Index | Russell IdealRatings Manzil Halal USA Broad Market Index | S&P 500 Shariah Industry Exclusions Index |
| Exchange | Nasdaq | NYSE Arca |
| Inception | November 18, 2025 | December 17, 2019 |
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.45% |
| Net assets | $35.43 million (October 7, 2026) | $3,367.75 million (October 4, 2026) |
| Holdings in latest file | 487 | 218 |
| Spread measure | 30-day bid/ask spread 0.15% | Median 30-day spread 0.02% |
The size gap is the first thing to absorb. SPUS is roughly 95 times larger by assets, and that shows up in the spread: 0.02% median for SPUS against 0.15% for MNZL on their respective fund pages. On a $10,000 purchase that is a difference of about $13 in round-trip trading cost, small for a long-term holder, but it compounds for anyone who rebalances monthly. SPUS's premium/discount sat at 0.03% and MNZL's at 0.06% on the days we checked; MNZL traded at a premium on 59 of 61 days in the third quarter of 2026, which is normal for a fund with fresh inflows.
How the two indices screen stocks
SPUS's summary prospectus, filed with the SEC on March 30, 2026, says the index starts from the S&P 500 Shariah Index, which contains all S&P 500 constituents that pass S&P's business-activity screens and its accounting ratios governing debt, cash and non-compliant revenue, then removes three sub-industries: Aerospace and Defense, Financial Exchanges and Data, and Data Processing and Outsourced Services. The index was co-developed in 2019 by S&P Dow Jones Indices and ShariaPortfolio, the fund's sub-adviser, is float-adjusted market-cap weighted, rebalances monthly, and had 240 constituents on February 28, 2026. SP Funds' fund page adds that holdings have debt to market capitalization below 30%, and that each security is pre-screened by the sub-adviser before purchase.
MNZL's fund page says its index is built on the Russell IdealRatings 1000 Islamic Index, which applies AAOIFI-based screens to the Russell 1000 to exclude alcohol, gambling, conventional banking and other non-compliant companies, and then applies 'an extra filter using American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) criteria' that removes companies 'involved in business activities related to grave human rights violations', which the index description specifies as 'demonstrated links to apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide, or other grave human rights violations'. The index reconstitutes quarterly. The Russell 1000 covers large and mid-cap US stocks, so MNZL's universe is about twice as wide as the S&P 500 before screening. Our piece on why halal stock screeners disagree explains how two AAOIFI-based methodologies can still produce different lists.
What the holdings files show, and the names MNZL does not own
The holdings files are where the two funds diverge most. SPUS's top ten on October 4, 2026 were Nvidia 14.49%, Apple 12.18%, Microsoft 9.77%, Alphabet 5.08%, Broadcom 4.32%, Micron 3.01%, Tesla 2.68%, AMD 2.58%, Eli Lilly 2.29% and ExxonMobil 1.69%, together 58.1% of the fund. MNZL's top ten on October 7 were Apple 15.93%, Broadcom 5.77%, Micron 3.89%, Tesla 3.67%, AMD 3.48%, Eli Lilly 3.05%, Johnson and Johnson 2.03%, AbbVie 1.56%, Applied Materials 1.39% and Lam Research 1.38%, together about 42%.
Reading both files side by side, neither fund held Amazon, Meta, Visa, Mastercard, Walmart, Costco or UnitedHealth on those dates; those names fall out of both methodologies' business and debt screens. The divergence is a short list: SPUS held Nvidia at 14.49%, Microsoft at 9.77%, Alphabet at 5.08%, ExxonMobil at 1.69%, Cisco at 1.12% and Oracle at 0.60%, and MNZL held none of them. Since all six pass S&P's Shariah screen, their absence from MNZL is most plausibly the AFSC screen or a stricter IdealRatings ratio. Manzil's fund page does not give a per-company reason, and we did not fetch the index methodology document, so treat that as our inference and check the index provider's rules if the detail matters to you.
The investment consequence is large either way. SPUS is a bet on the handful of mega-cap technology names that have led the US market; MNZL deliberately or incidentally is not. That is why MNZL can hold 487 stocks and still have Apple at nearly 16%: once Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet are gone, Apple is the only remaining giant and market-cap weighting pushes it to the top. SPUS's own exclusion of Amazon and Meta means neither fund is a complete picture of the S&P 500's leaders.
Performance so far, with the caveat MNZL is under a year old
SPUS's fund page reports NAV returns of 21.21% for one year, 25.32% annualized for three years, 16.37% for five years and 18.57% annualized since inception to September 30, 2026, against 15.45% annualized for the S&P 500 Total Return over the same period since December 2019. That outperformance is mostly the absence of banks and the overweight to technology that falls out of the screen; it is not a forecast. MNZL reports 17.86% NAV year to date and 21.94% cumulative since its November 2025 launch to the same date, with no one-year figure yet. The two numbers are not comparable, and Manzil's own page says the fund 'does not have a performance history for a full calendar year'. Our MNZL review and SPUS review each cover the track record in detail.
Distributions, purification and how each issuer reports it
SPUS pays monthly: its distribution table shows $0.026 per share every month of 2026 through September, and the fund page reports a 30-day SEC yield of 0.39% on September 30, 2026. MNZL has paid one distribution, $0.0196507 per share on December 31, 2025. Neither issuer's fund page, as fetched, publishes a per-share purification figure for the current year. Manzil's page explains dividend purification as removing the portion of dividends that originate from non-compliant activities and donating it, and links to further detail; its prospectus risk language says any interest the fund earns on cash is donated to a public charity annually. SP Funds' sub-adviser, ShariaPortfolio, states on its own site that incidental interest may be purified per Islamic guidelines. For an actual purification ratio, use a screener's fund page or the annual report, and see our guide to building a halal ETF portfolio for the method.
Liquidity and trading a young ETF
A $35 million ETF with a 0.15% spread is tradable, but the rules for small funds apply. Use limit orders, avoid the first and last fifteen minutes of the session when spreads widen, and check the premium or discount on the fund page before a large purchase. Manzil's page shows the fund traded at a premium on 59 of 61 days in the third quarter and 54 of 62 in the second, which reflects buying pressure as the fund grows rather than a defect. SPUS, with 55.4 million shares outstanding and a 0.02% median spread, can be bought and sold like any large ETF. Closure risk is also real for any fund under $50 million; Manzil's US entry, built on the SEC registration it acquired from Aghaz Invest in 2025, is new enough that a reader should expect the fund to be reviewed on asset growth over its first few years.
Portfolio roles: core, satellite, or both
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- SPUS as the sole US core: the default for most readers, because of its size, six-year record, monthly distribution and tight spread, accepting a 58% top-ten concentration led by Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft.
- MNZL as the sole US core: suits a reader who wants broad large and mid-cap exposure, wants the AFSC human rights screen, and accepts a very different sector mix with Apple near 16% and no Nvidia, Microsoft or Alphabet.
- SPUS plus MNZL: the overlap is real in Apple, Broadcom, Micron, Tesla, AMD and Eli Lilly, so pairing them does not diversify away the top names; it does add about 270 mid-caps that SPUS lacks.
- Either fund plus HLAL: see the SPUS versus HLAL comparison; HLAL offers a third screening methodology and a different concentration profile.
- Either fund plus UMMA or SPWO for non-US exposure: neither MNZL nor SPUS holds anything outside the United States.
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For a reader whose main concern is the mega-cap concentration in SPUS, MNZL is not the obvious fix, because it swaps one concentration (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft) for another (Apple alone), and because excluding the market's largest companies is a strong active bet dressed as an index. For a reader whose main concern is the human rights screen, MNZL is currently the only US-listed halal ETF that applies one, and that will decide the choice regardless of the rest of this page. The best halal investments guide shows how either fund slots into a full allocation.
Verdict: which one to hold
Hold SP Funds' SPUS as your US core if you want the market as the AAOIFI screens leave it, with the lowest trading cost and the longest halal ETF record in the country, and you can live with 14% in Nvidia. Hold Manzil's MNZL if the AFSC screen matters to you, or if you specifically do not want the AI-led mega-caps to dominate your retirement account, and you accept a $35 million fund with a wider spread and under a year of history. Own both only if you have read the holdings and understand that the overlap in Apple, Broadcom and the semiconductor names means the pair is less diversified than it looks.
A 30-year-old with a Roth IRA and decades ahead can reasonably choose either; the five basis point fee difference is trivial next to the holdings difference, so decide on the screen and the concentration, not the expense ratio. A retiree drawing income should prefer SPUS for its monthly distribution and liquidity. Revisit MNZL once it crosses roughly $100 million in assets and has a full calendar year of returns. Facts checked against manzilfunds.com, sp-funds.com, sec.gov on October 4, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is MNZL cheaper than SPUS?
On expense ratio, yes: MNZL charges 0.40% and SPUS 0.45%, a difference of $5 a year per $10,000 invested. On trading cost, SPUS is cheaper, with a median 30-day spread of 0.02% against MNZL's 0.15% bid/ask spread. For a buy-and-hold investor the expense ratio dominates and MNZL edges it; for anyone trading regularly, SPUS's spread advantage outweighs the fee gap.
Does MNZL hold Nvidia, Microsoft or Alphabet?
No. MNZL's holdings file dated October 7, 2026 contains none of Nvidia, Microsoft or Alphabet, while SPUS held Nvidia at 14.49%, Microsoft at 9.77% and Alphabet at 5.08% a day earlier; neither fund held Amazon or Meta. Manzil's page does not state a per-company reason; its index adds an American Friends Service Committee human rights screen on top of AAOIFI ratios, which is the most likely explanation, but confirm with the index methodology if it matters to you.
Which fund is more diversified?
By count, MNZL, with 487 holdings against SPUS's 218, and a top ten of about 42% against 58%. By exposure, the picture is mixed: MNZL has Apple alone near 16%, and both funds share Apple, Broadcom, Micron, Tesla, AMD and Eli Lilly in their top ten. MNZL adds roughly 270 mid-cap names SPUS cannot hold because they are outside the S&P 500.
Is SPUS halal according to AAOIFI standards?
SPUS tracks an index built from the S&P 500 Shariah Index, which applies business-activity and financial ratio screens, with three further sub-industries removed, and its sub-adviser ShariaPortfolio pre-screens every security against AAOIFI-based criteria before purchase. Its fund page states holdings carry debt below 30% of market capitalization. HalalWallet's SPUS verdict page records the full ruling and the purification note.
Should I switch from SPUS to MNZL?
Only if the AFSC screen or the exclusion of the AI mega-caps is the reason. Switching in a taxable account realizes gains, and you would move from a $3.4 billion fund with a 0.02% spread to a $35 million fund with a 0.15% spread and no full-year record. In an IRA the tax cost disappears, so a partial switch to test the fund is reasonable. Fee savings alone, $5 a year per $10,000, do not justify the move.
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Can I hold MNZL and SPUS together?
Yes, and many readers will, but understand what it does. The pair shares six of its top ten names, so it does not reduce exposure to Apple or the semiconductor group. It does add mid-cap coverage and the AFSC screen on the MNZL half. A simpler way to diversify a US halal core is to add non-US exposure through UMMA or SPWO rather than a second US fund.
