Halal investment in Singapore means putting your money only into assets that pass Shariah screening: no interest (riba), no excessive uncertainty (gharar), and nothing earning real money from alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco, weapons or conventional banking. The honest starting point in 2026 is that the local shelf is thin. There is still no Shariah-certified ETF listed on the SGX, so the practical routes are a managed Shariah portfolio at Endowus (from S$100), a do-it-yourself basket of Shariah ETFs through a broker like Syfe Trade, or a handful of Shariah unit trusts on fund platforms. This guide covers what passes the screen, exactly what you can buy here, what each route costs, and the part most articles skip: purifying the small slice of tainted income so the return is genuinely clean.
Halal investing applies Islamic law to your portfolio. Two filters do most of the work. The first is a business-activity screen: a company is out if it earns its money from alcohol, tobacco, pork, gambling, adult entertainment, weapons, or interest-based finance such as conventional banks and insurers. The second is a financial-ratio screen, because almost every listed company touches some interest. Under the AAOIFI standard that most index providers follow, a stock fails if interest-bearing debt is 30% or more of market capitalisation, if cash plus interest-bearing securities reach 30% or more, or if income from non-permissible sources is 5% or more of total revenue.
Beyond the screens, three principles shape what you avoid. Riba (interest) rules out bonds, fixed deposits and money-market funds that pay a fixed coupon. Gharar (excessive uncertainty) rules out most options and speculative derivatives. Maysir (gambling) rules out anything that is a pure bet. None of this means you give up diversification. It means a global equity fund becomes a global Shariah equity fund, and a bond allocation becomes a sukuk allocation instead.
Singapore markets itself as an Islamic finance hub, and the wholesale numbers back that up: Shariah-compliant assets managed out of Singapore sit in the tens of billions of US dollars, and Islamic fintech transaction volume across the region is projected near US$179 billion by 2026. The retail shelf has not kept pace. As of June 2026 there is no Shariah-certified exchange-traded fund listed on the SGX, so you cannot simply buy a local halal index the way you buy a Singapore REIT ETF.
That leaves three workable routes for a retail investor here. A fully-managed Shariah portfolio (Endowus is the one local robo with a dedicated Shariah offering). A self-built basket of overseas-listed Shariah ETFs through a brokerage such as Syfe Trade, Tiger or moomoo. Or individual Shariah unit trusts bought on a fund platform. Most beginners are better served by the managed route, for the same reason most beginners should not pick single stocks: the screening, rebalancing and purification are done for you.
The fee gap between these routes is wide, and fees compound against you, so read the all-in number, not the headline. The figures below are as of June 2026; check each provider before you commit.
| Route | How it works | All-in cost p.a. | Minimum | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endowus Shariah Portfolio | Managed mix of Shariah equity funds and sukuk, 6 allocations from 100% equity to 100% sukuk | ~0.75% to 1.16% | S$100 | Hands-off, properly screened |
| Syfe Trade (DIY) | You buy Shariah ETFs yourself; halal ETF bundles available at reduced fees | ETF expense ratio + any commission | Price of one share | DIY investors who will self-screen |
| Fund platform unit trusts | Buy a single Shariah unit trust (e.g. Templeton Shariah Global Equity) | ~1.05% to 1.90% | Varies (often S$100 to S$1,000) | Picking one specific fund |
| Wahed (global) | Dedicated halal robo; not a Singapore-resident license, used cross-border | ~0.49% to 0.99% wrap | From US$100 | Those wanting an all-halal app |
This is the most complete local option. Endowus runs six Shariah allocations, from 100% global Shariah equities down to 100% sukuk, built from named funds: the HSBC Islamic Global Equity Index Fund, Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund and Franklin Shariah Technology Fund on the equity side, and the Azimut Global Sukuk and Franklin Global Sukuk funds for income. You start from S$100 with cash. On the flagship pricing, you pay an access fee of up to 0.60% a year to Endowus plus the fund-level fee, for a total of roughly 0.75% to 1.16% a year depending on the mix.
Syfe's managed Wealth portfolios, including Cash+, are not Shariah-compliant, so ignore those if you are screening strictly. What is useful is Syfe Trade, where you buy specific Shariah ETFs yourself, with halal ETF bundles offered at reduced fees. The catch is that the platform does not auto-screen for you; you carry the responsibility to verify each holding. That is the trade-off of any DIY brokerage, the same one covered in our robo-advisor vs DIY ETF breakdown.
If you go DIY, these are the products people actually use. None are SGX-listed, so you are buying US or UCITS (Irish/Luxembourg) listings, which carry currency and US estate-tax considerations worth understanding before you commit. UCITS versions are generally more tax-efficient for non-US investors on dividend withholding.
| Product | Ticker / ISIN | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF | HLAL | US large/mid-cap, Shariah-screened | US-listed, launched 2019 |
| SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia ETF | SPUS | S&P 500 minus excluded sectors | Concentrated in tech after exclusions |
| SP Funds Dow Jones Global Sukuk ETF | SPSK | Investment-grade sukuk | Income without interest (riba) |
| SP Funds S&P Global REIT Sharia ETF | SPRE | Shariah-screened global REITs | Property income, screened |
| iShares MSCI World Islamic UCITS ETF | ISDW | Global developed-market equities | UCITS, friendlier withholding |
| Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund | LU1267930813 | Active global Shariah equities | ~1.05% via Endowus vs ~1.75% standard |
A conventional bond pays interest, which is riba, so it is off the table. Sukuk are the Shariah-compliant substitute. Instead of lending money for interest, you own a share of a real underlying asset or project and receive a portion of its income or rental. The economic feel is similar to a bond, the structure is not, and certified Shariah scholars must approve each issuance.
For a Muslim investor building a balanced portfolio, sukuk fills the role bonds usually play: it dampens the swings of an all-equity holding. The same logic that makes a 60/40 split sensible for a conventional investor makes a 60% Shariah equity, 40% sukuk split sensible here, which is exactly why Endowus offers those middle allocations. If you want the mechanics of how mixing assets smooths returns, our asset allocation glossary entry walks through it.
Even a screened company often earns a sliver of impermissible income, typically interest on its cash balances, up to the 5% threshold. That sliver flows through to you inside your dividend. To keep the return genuinely halal, that portion is supposed to be purified, meaning you calculate it and give it to charity rather than keep it. It is usually small (often well under 5% of dividends received), but it is the difference between an investment that looks halal and one that is.
Managed funds and some platforms publish a purification ratio each year so you can do the sum. If you invest DIY, you are responsible for it yourself. Keep this separate from zakat, the annual 2.5% alms on qualifying wealth, which still applies to the market value of your halal holdings. Purification cleans tainted income; zakat is a separate religious obligation on the asset itself. For the maths of how your invested pot grows over time before either deduction, the compound interest calculator is a useful starting point.
Two recurring sticking points. First, CPF and its 2.5% to 4% guaranteed returns are interest-based, which raises a riba question that individual investors resolve differently; many follow the view that CPF is a state-mandated scheme outside ordinary commercial riba. Where you have discretion is the CPF Investment Scheme and the Supplementary Retirement Scheme: Endowus lets you fund Shariah portfolios with SRS, so you can get the income-tax relief on SRS contributions while staying screened.
Second, conventional cash management and fixed-income products such as fixed deposits, T-bills and most money-market funds pay interest and are not halal. The Shariah-clean parking spot for cash is a sukuk fund or an Islamic deposit, not the usual SSB vs T-bill vs fixed deposit options most savers compare. Decide your screen before you chase yield.
Keep it boring and screened, and you will do better than most. A workable sequence for a beginner:
No. As of June 2026 there is no Shariah-certified exchange-traded fund listed on the Singapore Exchange. Singapore investors who want halal ETFs buy US-listed or UCITS-listed ones such as HLAL, SPUS or iShares MSCI Islamic through a brokerage, or use a managed Shariah portfolio like Endowus instead.
No. Shariah screening is open to anyone, and many non-Muslim investors use it as an ethical filter that avoids alcohol, gambling, weapons and highly indebted companies. The screens are roughly comparable in cost to conventional funds and have historically delivered competitive returns, partly because excluding heavily leveraged firms can reduce risk.
For a hands-off investor, the Endowus Shariah portfolios run roughly 0.75% to 1.16% a year all-in, from S$100. A do-it-yourself basket of low-cost Shariah ETFs through a broker can be cheaper on paper, but you take on the screening and purification work yourself, so factor in your own time and the risk of error.
No. A bond pays interest, which is prohibited as riba. A sukuk gives you ownership of a share in a real asset or project and pays you income from it, so the cash flow feels bond-like but the structure is Shariah-compliant. Each issuance must be approved by certified Shariah scholars.
Purification means removing the small slice of impermissible income (usually interest a company earned on its cash) that flows through your dividends, and giving it to charity rather than keeping it. It is normally a small fraction of your dividends. Managed funds often publish a purification ratio; DIY investors must calculate it themselves. It is separate from zakat.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.