{"id":6594,"date":"2022-05-31T19:48:31","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T19:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifg.local\/articles\/a-detailed-review-of-aghaz-invest\/"},"modified":"2023-09-21T10:04:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T10:04:48","slug":"a-detailed-review-of-aghaz-invest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.islamicfinanceguru.com\/articles\/a-detailed-review-of-aghaz-invest","title":{"rendered":"A Detailed Review of Aghaz Invest – IslamicFinanceGuru"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve written extensively on how we think robo-advisors are a great solution for the passive Muslim investor. Now another Islamic robo-advisor has entered the fray with intentions of shaking things up.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Enter Aghaz Invest<\/a>. We\u2019ve previously done a podcast with their founder which you can listen to here<\/a>. In this article however, we will be proving an in-depth review of their offering as well as commenting on how they stack up against the competition.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we will cover:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What does Aghaz invest in?<\/li>\n
  2. What the onboarding and user experience was like<\/li>\n
  3. What sort of returns can you expect?<\/li>\n
  4. How it compares against other options<\/li>\n
  5. Pros and Cons<\/li>\n
  6. Verdict<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What does Aghaz invest in?<\/h1>\n

    Aghaz\u2019s portfolios contain a variety of asset classes which we summarise below.<\/p>\n

    US Equities:<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Approximately 20 halal large cap stocks determined for optimal risk\/return<\/li>\n
    2. SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions ETF (SPUS)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Halal US REITs:<\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. 3-5 sharia compliant REITs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Sukuk:<\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. SP Funds Dow Jones Global Sukuk ETF (SPSK)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Precious Metal Commodities:<\/h2>\n
            \n
          1. SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)<\/li>\n
          2. Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares ETF (PALL)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            These asset classes will give you a rounded investment portfolio. You have your exposure to stocks and shares through 1 and 2.<\/p>\n

            3 \u2013 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) \u2013 are trusts that hold real estate from which they earn rental returns. This provides you with welcome exposure to property. You also have sukuks which are a sharia-compliant alternative to conventional bond products, where holders receive revenue from the underlying assets.<\/p>\n

            For more information on Sukuk, check out our deep dive here<\/a> and our fixed income investing guide here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

            Lastly, the portfolio is rounded off with exposure to gold and palladium which is used extensively in cars.<\/p>\n

            Aghaz also promise to review and modify their portfolios at least every 6 months based on a combination of \u2018fundamental research and data science\u2019.<\/p>\n

            What the onboarding and user experience was like<\/h1>\n

            Registering via their website was a quick and simple process which directs you to the app. Once you\u2019re in the app you are prompted to complete your setup where you are taken through a series of questions which ends up with a recommended investment profile.<\/p>\n

            \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

            \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

            However you can still view the other investment profiles and see their asset allocation. You can also see a projected return rate for the investment amount and time period you specified.<\/p>\n

            \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

            Once you\u2019ve chosen your investment profile, the next step is to choose your goals if you so desire. They have a really comprehensive range of goals as you can see below. You can even create a custom goal. To try it out, I created a custom goal to save and invest for a Tesla.<\/p>\n

            \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

            Now that\u2019s done, you are good to go to add funds to your main investing portfolio or any goals you selected.<\/p>\n

            The home page will summarise your investing positions. Aghaz also offer some neat additional tools such as a halal US stock screener, a savings calculator, and a zakat calculator.<\/p>\n

            All in all, the app was crisp and everything is well presented. We should point out though that we were using a test account with limited functionality and weren\u2019t able to test everything but initial signs appear to be positive.<\/p>\n

            When I signed up using my own details to get a feel for the registration process on the website, I had a customer experience specialist directly reach out to me via email which was a nice touch.<\/p>\n

            What sort of returns can you expect?<\/h1>\n

            Aghaz has five model portfolios based on risk level ranging from conservative to aggressive. They suggest projected annualised returns of:<\/p>\n