StructureTracks the Dow Jones Islamic Market Developed Markets Quality & Low Volatility Index via full replication. Excludes companies with >5% income from alcohol, tobacco, pork, weapons, conventional banking/insurance and adult entertainment, plus excessive-leverage screens. Holdings are weighted by a low-vol/quality multi-factor approach rather than market cap. Quarterly purification information is published.
A mainstream robo-advisor's screened global-equity ETF (WSHR), tracking a Dow Jones Islamic quality/low-vol index, certified by Ratings Intelligence, with quarterly purification information published. Structurally an investment product. Note the factor tilt means it deviates from a plain Islamic world index — and there is no Wealthsimple-specific Shariah board beyond the index certifier.
Read the contract →Contract-grade public documents were read directly (e.g. a full Terms & Conditions or a scholar-reviewed contract). This rates our certainty, not the provider’s compliance.
Established & regulatory standing
The verifiable facts
Established
Fund formed 12 May 2021; domiciled in Canada; listed on NEO/Cboe Canada (WSHR.NE). Sub-advised/managed in conjunction with Mackenzie Investments per fund documents.
Regulatory standing
A Canadian-listed ETF (provincial securities regulators / CIRO oversight of dealers). A market-traded security, so it carries no deposit insurance but normal investor protections apply through CIRO-member dealers/CIPF when held in such accounts.
Shariah board
Who certifies it
The ETF and its underlying index are certified by Islamic researchers at Ratings Intelligence Partners; dividend purification information is made available quarterly. There is no named Wealthsimple-specific Shariah board — compliance derives from the index methodology.
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
Tracks the Dow Jones Islamic Market Developed Markets Quality & Low Volatility Index via full replication. Excludes companies with >5% income from alcohol, tobacco, pork, weapons, conventional banking/insurance and adult entertainment, plus excessive-leverage screens. Holdings are weighted by a low-vol/quality multi-factor approach rather than market cap. Quarterly purification information is published.
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 Wealthsimple Shariah World Equity Index’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 screened equity, not a debt contract, so the auditable analogue of a contract is the index's published screen — and the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) methodology that WSHR's index inherits is public, so it can be evaluated without inventing thresholds. DJIM applies a two-stage screen run by its Shariah Supervisory Board (the index is certified by Ratings Intelligence Partners). Stage one is a business-activity exclusion of six sectors — alcohol, pork-related products, conventional financial services, entertainment, tobacco, and weapons/defence — plus a tolerance limit: a company is dropped if non-permissible revenue (including all interest income) is 5% or more of total revenue. Stage two is three accounting ratios, each of which must be below 33%: total debt, cash + interest-bearing securities, and accounts receivable, each divided by trailing 24-month average market capitalisation. Honest limits to weigh: (1) DJIM uses a MARKET-CAP denominator, which floats with the share price, rather than the total-assets denominator AAOIFI/Saturna-style screens use — so a stock can pass or fail on price moves alone; (2) WSHR tracks a QUALITY/LOW-VOLATILITY factor variant, so its holdings and weights deviate from a plain cap-weighted Islamic world index and will track differently; (3) purification is the investor's responsibility — Wealthsimple publishes a quarterly figure but does not deduct it for you; (4) compliance derives from the index, not a Wealthsimple-specific fatwa board. Reconfirm the current S&P Dow Jones Indices methodology and the latest purification figure live, as index rules are periodically revised.
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 Wealthsimple Shariah World Equity Index’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 Wealthsimple Shariah World Equity Index, 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.
Where is the quarterly purification figure published, and how do I apply it?
What is the MER, and how does the quality/low-vol tilt affect returns vs a cap-weighted Islamic index?
What exact financial-ratio screens does the Dow Jones Islamic index apply?
Who at Ratings Intelligence certifies it, and how often is it reviewed?
The honest gap
What we have not verified
- The manager/sub-advisor relationship (Wealthsimple vs Mackenzie) should be confirmed on the current fund facts.
- The factor tilt means it will deviate from a plain Islamic world index — set expectations accordingly.
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.