StructureOffers managed halal portfolios investing in publicly traded North American companies whose activities are Shariah-consistent, targeting long-term appreciation and quarterly distributions. The Manzil Mortgage Fund invests in residential mortgages originated by Manzil, giving exposure to halal home-finance assets. Some holdings are exempt-market (Offering Memorandum) funds.
Canada's first actively managed halal digital investment platform (branded 'the halal Wealthsimple'), delivered via OneVest and sharing Manzil's AAOIFI-aligned Shariah governance and IFAAS audit. Structurally an investment product, so the lens is favourable. Note that some holdings are exempt-market (Offering Memorandum) funds with liquidity/disclosure limits. Verify screening + purification.
Read the contract →Provider white papers, FAQs or fatāwā were read, but the executed contract itself is not public. This rates our certainty, not the provider’s compliance.
Established & regulatory standing
The verifiable facts
Established
Launched as 'Canada's first actively managed halal digital investment platform' (media-branded 'the halal version of Wealthsimple'), delivered via a partnership with OneVest Management Inc.
Regulatory standing
Wealth products are provided through OneVest, a registered portfolio manager across Canadian provinces. Account assets are held with custodians registered as investment dealers and CIRO members; client assets carry CIPF coverage. The OneVest Halal Portfolio includes non-prospectus-qualified (exempt-market) funds offered under an Offering Memorandum.
Shariah board
Who certifies it
Shares Manzil's Shariah governance (SSB incl. Mufti Faraz Adam and Dr. Shaher; AAOIFI standards; IFAAS audit). A separate named board specific to the OneVest-managed funds was not found distinct from Manzil's SSB.
A named, credentialled board is a real signal — but a provider’s own board certifying its own product is not the same as arm’s-length review. Weigh it alongside the independent commentary below.
How the structure works
The mechanics, in principle
Offers managed halal portfolios investing in publicly traded North American companies whose activities are Shariah-consistent, targeting long-term appreciation and quarterly distributions. The Manzil Mortgage Fund invests in residential mortgages originated by Manzil, giving exposure to halal home-finance assets. Some holdings are exempt-market (Offering Memorandum) funds.
This describes the structure in principle — it is not a verdict on the executed contract. Canada’s halal-finance market is young, so confirm each provider’s current executed terms before committing; the checklist below is what tests the fiqh.
From the public documents
How the contract actually works
Read from Manzil Invest’s own public materials — white papers, product pages, FAQs and fatāwā — not its executed contract, which is generally not published. Where a point is undisclosed, it is said plainly rather than guessed. Sources are listed below.
This is a managed equity + mortgage-fund product, not a debt contract you sign, so the auditable analogue is the screening methodology behind the holdings — and here the transparency is uneven. What IS verifiable: the portfolios are managed by OneVest Management Inc., a portfolio manager registered across Canadian provinces (client assets are custodied with CIRO-member dealers and carry CIPF coverage), and Shariah governance is shared with Manzil's named Supervisory Board (Mufti Faraz Adam, Dr. Shaher Abbas, Dr. Mohamed Anouar Gadhoum) under AAOIFI standards with an annual IFAAS audit; the standard business-activity exclusions apply (alcohol, gambling, tobacco, pork, conventional interest-based finance, adult entertainment, weapons). The HONEST GAP: unlike the Wealthsimple WSHR option — whose underlying Dow Jones Islamic Market index publishes its exact ratio rule-set — the OneVest Halal Portfolio does NOT publish a line-by-line, independently-readable financial-ratio screen; its methodology help pages are access-gated (returned 403/404 on direct fetch, June 2026), so the specific debt / interest-income / receivables thresholds rest on the SSB + IFAAS attestation rather than a public document. As a reference for the kind of AAOIFI ratios the Manzil brand applies — though to a DIFFERENT product, and NOT confirmed identical to the OneVest CA portfolio — Manzil's separate US ETF (MNZL, tracking the Russell IdealRatings Manzil Halal USA Broad Market Custom Index) publishes its screen openly: interest-bearing debt under 30% of the 12-month average market cap; cash, deposits and interest-bearing investments under 30% of average market cap; cash + deposits + accounts receivable no more than 67% of total assets; and a 5% de-minimis revenue tolerance for prohibited activities (manzilfunds.com, verified live June 2026). Honest limits to weigh: (1) the CA managed portfolio's actual thresholds are not independently readable and may differ from the US ETF's; (2) some holdings are exempt-market (Offering Memorandum) funds with liquidity and disclosure limits; (3) impermissible-income purification at fund level is not publicly documented — confirm whether it is handled for you; (4) two fee layers (Manzil + OneVest) apply. Reconfirm the live methodology and purification handling before investing.
The Six-Pillar test
The questions that decide it
This is the universal lens this site applies to every home-finance contract, anywhere. Read each pillar as a question to put to Manzil Invest’s executed contract — not its brochure.
- 1
Real ownership
Does the financier genuinely take ownership of the asset — even briefly — and bear a real owner's risk, rather than only ever holding a debt secured against it?
- 2
Risk-sharing
If the asset is destroyed or its value collapses, does the financier share that loss in proportion to its stake, or is the customer left bearing it alone?
- 3
Rent vs interest
In a lease/co-ownership, is the rent benchmarked to a genuine market rent for the property — or is it calibrated to an interest rate (a base-rate + margin) in disguise?
- 4
Default mechanism
On default, does the contract behave like the end of a real lease/partnership — or does it accelerate like a loan, demanding the full outstanding 'principal' plus charges?
- 5
No guaranteed pre-fixed return
Is the financier's return tied to real ownership and risk, or is it a pre-fixed, guaranteed sum that arrives regardless of what happens to the asset?
- 6
Substance over form
Strip away the Arabic labels: does the cashflow, risk, and outcome differ from a conventional loan — or is it the same economics wearing a compliant name (ḥiyal)?
Before you sign
What to ask Manzil Invest, in writing
Put these to the provider in writing and keep the answers. The reply — not the marketing — is what tells you whether the structure holds.
Which funds in my portfolio are exempt-market (Offering Memorandum), and what are the liquidity/redemption and disclosure limitations?
Who certifies the OneVest Halal Equity Fund and the Manzil Mortgage Fund, and is dividend purification handled for me?
For the Mortgage Fund, what is my exposure to defaults in Manzil-originated mortgages, and how is risk shared?
What are the all-in fees across the Manzil and OneVest layers?
Does CIPF coverage apply to all holdings, including the exempt-market funds?
The honest gap
What we have not verified
- Whether the OneVest funds have a dedicated Shariah board distinct from Manzil's SSB.
- The liquidity and valuation mechanics of the exempt-market and mortgage-fund holdings.
- Whether/how impermissible-income purification is performed at fund level.
Sources
What this read is built on
The verifiable references behind this page — provider documents and independent scholarly resolutions. Read them yourself; do not take our summary on trust.