Islamic Finance Daily Brief — Sunday, October 18, 2026
Assalamu alaikum! Today's Islamic finance stories — and what to learn from them.
🇬🇧 1. Almalia launches the world's first actively managed Shariah global equity ETF on the London Stock Exchange
Almalia listed its Sanlam Active Shariah Global Equity UCITS ETF (tickers AMAL in dollars and AMAP in pounds) on the London Stock Exchange this week. Until now, every Shariah ETF has tracked an index passively; this is the first where managers pick the stocks themselves. Sanlam Investments UK's Global High Quality team runs the portfolio, and a scholar panel from Amanie Advisors checks that every holding stays Shariah-compliant.
What to learn: An ETF normally copies an index. The Oct 6 edition covered how passive Shariah ETFs track indexes like the Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans. An actively managed ETF works differently: a team of professionals studies companies and chooses which ones to buy, aiming to beat the index rather than copy it.
The names in this story each play one role. Sanlam's Global High Quality strategy is the stock-picking method: it has run since 2008, buying profitable companies with low borrowing. Amanie Advisors is a firm of Shariah scholars that reviews the holdings and keeps non-compliant companies out. AMAP and AMAL are simply the two tickers for the same fund on the London Stock Exchange: AMAP trades in pounds, AMAL in dollars.
A skilled manager is one of three doors an ordinary investor can walk through. The first door is a passive Shariah ETF, which copies an index for a low fee and never tries to beat it. The second door is this fund: a manager who tries to beat the index, which costs more in fees and may or may not succeed. The third door is a conventional active fund, which picks stocks the same way but without the Shariah screen. The new listing matters because, until now, the second door did not exist for a Muslim investor.
For an ordinary investor who wanted active management, this fills a real gap. An ordinary investor in London who believed a skilled manager could pick better companies than an index had no Shariah-compliant option until this listing.
🔗 Source: ETFWorld.co.uk
🇲🇾 2. Zetrix AI faces a possible sukuk default after breaking a covenant, with an October 22 deadline
Malaysian company Zetrix AI disclosed that it has breached a covenant under its Sukuk Wakalah, and it has until October 22 to fix the breach. The company still owes RM2.0 billion in principal and RM164.5 million in future coupon payments under the sukuk. If it cannot fix the breach, it will ask sukukholders to approve a waiver through a formal vote; without a fix or a waiver, the trustee can demand the full amount immediately.
What to learn: A covenant is a promise written into the sukuk terms. The usual promises are keeping enough cash on hand and not taking on too much extra debt. The company's filing does not say which promise was broken. A breach like this normally happens when a company's finances slip: cash falls below the promised level, or new borrowing pushes debt above the promised limit.
For the ordinary investors holding these certificates, the money is not automatically lost. The sukuk runs on a fixed sequence. First comes the remedy window: Zetrix has until October 22 to fix the breach. If it fixes it, nothing changes and coupon payments continue on schedule. If it cannot fix it, the company asks sukukholders to vote a waiver, an Extraordinary Resolution that lets the breach stand without penalty. If the waiver fails too, the trustee can accelerate: every outstanding sum, RM2.0 billion in principal plus RM164.5 million in future coupons, becomes due at once. Only then does the real danger start. If the company cannot pay, the trustee enforces its rights against the company's assets, and investors recover what those assets can cover.
Breaches like this can usually be avoided. The company can keep a cash buffer above the promised minimum instead of running close to the line. It can report its numbers to the trustee early, so a slip is caught months before it becomes a breach. And it can talk to sukukholders before the deadline rather than after, when a waiver is easier to win.
🔗 Source: Asean Observer
🇲🇾 3. Malaysia's Cashku platform adds Shariah funds from Muamalat Invest
Cashku, a digital wealth platform operated by licensed firm Advisonomics in Malaysia, has partnered with Muamalat Invest — the Islamic fund management arm of Bank Muamalat Malaysia — to offer Shariah-compliant funds through its app. The lineup includes money market funds, sukuk funds, Malaysian and global equity funds, gold, and Shariah-compliant private credit funds. Retail funds open to eligible users, while wholesale funds, including private credit, stay restricted to sophisticated investors. Cashku checks each user's eligibility and suitability during onboarding.
What to learn: This story is about distribution — how investment funds reach ordinary people. The part that is changing is the onboarding. A bank branch officer used to check who you are, whether a fund is open to you, and whether it suits you. Cashku's app now does that work: it checks each user's eligibility and suitability during signup, before letting them invest. The rest of the change is price. The platform charges no sales fees on the funds, and minimums run as low as RM10.
That combination is the business opportunity. Every small account that could never afford a bank's minimums becomes a customer, and thousands of small accounts add up to real assets under management. The platform earns its keep on volume rather than on high fees from a few wealthy clients.
For an ordinary investor in the USA, the same shelves already exist on both sides. On the conventional side, apps like Robinhood, Schwab, and Fidelity let anyone buy fractional shares with zero commissions from a phone. On the Shariah side, Wahed runs managed halal portfolios as a robo-advisor, the Zoya app screens stocks and funds for compliance, and the Amana mutual funds have run since the 1980s. Cashku is Malaysia's version of the same idea: the phone replaces the branch.
🔗 Source: TNGlobal
Learn
Salam: paying in advance for goods delivered later
What it is: Salam is a contract for buying goods in advance. The buyer pays the full price today for goods to be delivered later. The goods, the quantity, the price, and the delivery date are all fixed in the contract. There is no loan and no interest.
How it works: Islamic law normally forbids selling something that does not exist yet. Salam is the exception scholars carved out for farm produce and standard goods. The farmer needs cash at planting time for seeds and labour, long before the harvest exists. The bank pays in full at the contract, which gives the farmer working capital without an interest-bearing loan. The conditions are strict: the full price must be paid upfront, and the goods must be clearly described so there is no dispute at delivery. The buyer takes the goods later and sells them.
This differs from Istisna, covered in yesterday's edition. Istisna is for ordering something to be manufactured to your specifications, like a house built on your plot. Salam is for standard goods identified by type and quantity, like a set tonnage of wheat. Both are exceptions to the same rule, but they serve different trades.
A real-world example: An Islamic bank signs a Salam contract with a wheat farmer in March, paying in full for 100 tonnes of wheat to be delivered after the October harvest. The farmer uses the money for seeds, fuel, and workers. In October the bank takes delivery and sells the wheat, keeping the difference between the sale price and what it paid.
All sources
- ETFWorld.co.uk — Almalia to launch the world's first actively managed global equity Shariah compliant ETF on London Stock Exchange (Oct 17, 2026)
- Asean Observer — Zetrix AI faces potential default over sukuk covenant breach (Oct 16, 2026)
- TNGlobal — Malaysia's digital wealth platform Cashku adds Muamalat Invest Shariah funds (Oct 15, 2026)