Canada is currently the fastest-growing G7 nation and the vast majority of that growth is being driven by immigration.
At roughly nine million strong, the immigrant population now represents a quarter of Canada’s total count, and that share is only expected to keep rising.
Recognizing this, Manzil Investment Advisors has been targeting Canada’s Muslim community since launching in 2017.
But the Toronto fintech also knows there’s an even bigger market south of the border.
Manzil, which graduated from the Holt Accelerator in 2019, has now launched a digital platform offering Shariah-compliant investment solutions specifically tailored for America’s Muslim community.
“There are several million Muslims in the USA, many of whom feel excluded from the financial tools and advantages that their peers have access to,” posits Dr. Mohamad Sawwaf, Group CEO of Manzil.
“Muslims want to invest,” says Sawwaf, “but only about a third of the stocks in the S&P 500 are compliant with our beliefs.”
Without a platform like Manzil Invest USA, “many Muslims may sit out of the public stock market entirely,” the CEO laments.
Sawwaf says that Manzil’s US platform is powered by a strategic partnership with Alpaca, a brokerage infrastructure API offering Shariah-compliant financial products. (In Canada, that partner is Toronto’s OneVest.)
“Our partnership with Manzil underscores Alpaca’s commitment to fostering financial innovation and accessibility,” stated Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and cofounder of Alpaca. “We are excited to support Manzil’s vision for inclusive finance by providing the infrastructure they need to deliver Shariah-compliant investment opportunities to millions of Muslims in the United States.”
By offering expertly managed portfolios, Manzil aims to remove complexities for customers who are new to public equities, while ensuring all securities are pre-screened using both the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions standards and the American Friends Screening Committee criteria.
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