Manzil Manzil Russell Halal USA Broad Market ETF

Manzil's US business is the American arm of Canada's most established halal-finance company. Murabaha Inc. (operating as Manzil, incorporated federally in Canada in March 2019) entered the US in November 2024 by acquiring Aghaz Investment Advisors, a Seattle-founded Islamic robo-advisor, taking over its technology and its SEC investment-adviser registration — active since May 14, 2020 under CRD #308500. The renamed Manzil Investment Advisors, LLC is a Delaware LLC headquartered in Dallas, Texas, registered under the SEC's internet-adviser rule (203A-2(e)), and its January 2025 Form ADV discloses no material legal or disciplinary events. Aghaz founder Khurram Agha stayed on as Chief Compliance Officer, with Manzil co-founder Dr. Mohamad Sawwaf as CEO.

The platform launched publicly on July 15, 2025 in partnership with Alpaca Securities LLC, a FINRA-member self-clearing broker-dealer that provides custody and execution (SIPC coverage up to $500,000, with the firm announcing excess coverage of $75M securities / $75M cash). Manzil offers two paths: Manzil Trading, a self-directed brokerage with a $100 minimum and real-time Shariah-compliance screening, and Manzil Managed Portfolios, robo-managed AAOIFI-certified model portfolios. Taxable investment accounts plus Traditional and Roth IRAs are supported.

Pricing on the live site is 0.40% of assets under management plus a $48/year subscription that is fully waived at $100,000+, with a $100 account minimum; fees are charged only on invested funds, not idle cash. Notably, the firm's January 2025 SEC filings state an older schedule ($2/month plus 0.49%, $1,000 minimum) — the website reflects newer retail pricing, but the discrepancy is worth confirming at signup. Third-party ETF expense ratios inside managed portfolios pass through to the investor and are not revenue to Manzil.

Screening follows AAOIFI standards: companies deriving more than 5% of income from alcohol, gambling, weapons, tobacco, adult entertainment, pork, or interest-based businesses are excluded, along with preferred shares and interest-paying securities. Because even screened companies can earn incidental impermissible income, Manzil calculates conservative purification estimates using AAOIFI methodology — though clients must personally donate those amounts, and Manzil's disclaimer places responsibility for the payment (and any tax consequences) on the investor.

In November 2025 Manzil launched the Manzil Russell Halal USA Broad Market ETF (MNZL) on Nasdaq — a passive fund tracking the custom Russell IdealRatings Manzil Halal USA Broad Market Index, built from the Russell 1000 with AAOIFI screens plus an American Friends Service Committee human-rights overlay. The fund charges a 0.40% expense ratio and held about $23M in net assets as of July 2026. Its screened composition differs sharply from conventional benchmarks: Apple is roughly 17% of the fund while Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and NVIDIA are absent.

Manzil has said publicly it aims to become 'the North American Islamic neobank,' with a US roadmap of retirement accounts first, then wills, home financing, and eventually chequing/savings — the Canadian product suite in reverse (company-stated plans, not commitments). Today the US offering is investing-only, so households needing halal home financing still need a dedicated provider.