NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wahed, a financial investment company that aims to advance financial inclusion through accessible, affordable, and values-based investing, will debut the Nasdaq’s first Shariah-compliant and ESG-aware ETF today. The Wahed Dow Jones Islamic World ETF (Ticker: UMMA), which will begin trading today on the Nasdaq, seeks long-term capital appreciation and looks to provide investors access to international, ex-U.S. investments that seek to better align with their values.
The new fund notably expands Wahed’s screening beyond Shariah-compliant or halal constituents by also filtering based on environmental, social, and governance factors. UMMA complements Wahed’s U.S. equity-focused Wahed FTSE USA Shariah ETF (HLAL), which debuted on the Nasdaq in 2019, by seeking to provide U.S. investors exposure to international securities that meet the Shariah-compliant criteria. The global exposure afforded by UMMA may significantly increase the long-term investment fund landscape for investors who faith-based restrictions may have historically limited. The Fund will benchmark to the Dow Jones Islamic Market International Titans 100 Index, a data-driven index owned and maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, is designed to measure the stock performance of the largest ex-U.S. companies that have passed rules-based screens for adherence to Shariah investment guidelines.
“We believe our new fund provides investors a highly personalized investing experience that is more true to their theological beliefs,” said Samim Abedi, Chief Investment Officer at Wahed. “The line between ethical, socially responsible, and ESG investing has appeared to blur, and we’re excited to seek to provide investors a vehicle to diversify their portfolio with international investments that align with even more of their beliefs. By bringing these values-based investment principles together, we believe we’re addressing a clear gap in the market for an international Shariah-compliant fund managed through an ESG investing lens.”
Wahed is launching UMMA in collaboration with the U.S. Bank’s Listed Funds Trust and Dow Jones. The fund effectively tracks the Dow Jones Islamic Market International Titans 100 Index, an index of the largest non-U.S. companies in emerging and developing nations that meet specific Islamic finance guidelines. Constituents are then screened further utilizing RepRisk, a leading ESG data science solution combining machine learning and human intelligence to assess ESG risks. UMMA has an expense ratio of 0.65%
For more information on the fund, view the UMMA prospectus and related disclosure information here.
About Wahed
Launched in 2017, Wahed is a financial investment company that aims to advance financial inclusion through accessible, affordable, and values-based investing. The company has made significant in-roads in the world of ethical and halal investing by creating an easy-to-use digital platform with free portfolio recommendations. Wahed’s services have already attracted over 250,000 customers in the US, UK, Malaysia, and beyond through its website or mobile app. For more information, visit: https://wahedinvest.com/
Disclaimer
Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus and summary prospectus. A hard copy may be obtained by clicking here. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.
An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of principal. The Fund may trade at a premium or discount to NAV. The Fund has the same risk as the underlying securities traded on the exchange throughout the day. Redemptions are limited and often commission are charged on every trade. Wahed Dow Jones Islamic World ETF shares may be bought and sold on an exchange through a brokerage account. Brokerage commissions and ETF expenses will reduce investment returns. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for ETF shares will be developed or maintained. . Islamic principles restrict the Fund’s ability to invest in certain market sectors, such as financial companies and conventional fixed-income securities, and reduce the size of the overall universe in which the Fund can invest. The equity securities held in the Fund’s portfolio may experience sudden, unpredictable drops in value or long periods of decline in value. The risks associated with this fund are detailed in the “Principal Investment Risk” section of the prospectus and could include other factors such as Market Capitalization risk, Market risk, passive investment risk, sector risk, tracking risk, tracking error risk, and/or underlying index risk. The Fund is new and has a limited operating history.
The Adviser also applies an environment, social, and governance (“ESG”) framework that evaluates companies based on various metrics, such as the company’s impact on the environment, community relations, employee relations and corporate governance (“ESG Screen”). Applying ESG criteria to the investment process may exclude securities of certain issuers for non-investment reasons and therefore the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use ESG or sustainability criteria. The Fund’s incorporation of ESG considerations may affect its exposure to certain sectors and/or types of investments, and may adversely impact the Fund’s performance depending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of favor in the market.
Diversification does not assure a profit nor protect against a loss in a declining market.
Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a lesser number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund may be more exposed to the risks associated with and developments affecting an individual issuer or a lesser number of issuers than a fund that invests more widely. This may increase the Fund’s volatility and cause the performance of a relatively small number of issuers to have a greater impact on the Fund’s performance.
Holdings are subject to change and are not buy/sell recommendations.
The Dow Jones Islamic Market International Titans 100 Index (the “Index”) is a data-driven index owned and maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, which is designed to measure the stock performance of the largest ex-U.S. companies that have passed rules-based screens for adherence to Shariah investment guidelines.
The Wahed Dow Jones Islamic World ETF (UMMA) is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.
