SP Funds runs some of the most popular Shariah-compliant ETFs in the US market. SPUS (S&P 500 Shariah ETF) and SPRE (Shariah-compliant real estate ETF) together hold more than a billion dollars in assets and are probably the easiest way for an American Muslim to get passive halal index exposure.

Because SP Funds is a product company, they publish some free investor tools to support their ETFs. People sometimes ask if these tools replace a dedicated screening platform. They don't, but they're worth knowing about. Here's what they offer and where they stop.

What SP Funds actually provides

SP Funds' website (spfunds.com) has several resources for investors:

ETF fact sheets for each fund
Monthly holdings reports for SPUS, SPRE, SPTE, SPSK
Shariah-compliance certification documents
A blog with occasional methodology content
Prospectuses and regulatory filings
Performance data

If you own SPUS, SPRE, SPTE (Shariah-compliant technology ETF), or SPSK (sukuk ETF), their website is the official source for holdings and performance. It's the first place I'd look if you want to verify what's inside the fund.

What SP Funds does not provide: a general-purpose stock screener. You can't type in a random ticker and get a compliance verdict. Their tools are fund-focused, not portfolio-focused.

The monthly holdings export

This is the most overlooked tool on the SP Funds site. Every month, they publish a full list of holdings for each ETF. For SPUS, that's the list of every stock currently in their Shariah-compliant S&P 500 tracker. You can download it.

Why this matters: if you want to build a portfolio of individual halal stocks but don't know where to start, the SPUS holdings list gives you a ready-made universe of around 200 US large caps that have passed their methodology. You can then research the individual names using other tools.

It's basically a free starting screen for US large caps with SP Funds doing the compliance work. Not bad for zero dollars.

The methodology question

SP Funds uses the S&P Shariah Index methodology, which is developed and maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices with input from Ratings Intelligence Partners (a specialist Shariah advisory firm). The methodology is public and well-documented on the S&P website.

Key S&P Shariah rules:

Sector exclusions: standard Shariah list
Debt to 36-month average market cap under 33 percent
Cash plus interest-bearing securities to 36-month average market cap under 33 percent
Accounts receivable to 36-month average market cap under 49 percent
Non-permissible income under 5 percent of total revenue

The "36-month average market cap" denominator is the key differentiator. Other methodologies use trailing market cap, and the difference can move stocks in and out of compliance during volatile periods.

FaithScreener supports S&P Shariah methodology as one of its 9 frameworks, so you can run any stock through the same rules SP Funds uses without subscribing to anything. That's useful if you want to check a stock outside the SPUS holdings list.

What I'd use SP Funds tools for

Verifying what's in SPUS right now. The holdings list is authoritative. If you own SPUS and want to know if you indirectly own a specific company, the holdings file tells you.

Understanding S&P Shariah methodology. Their documentation is better than most public sources on how the methodology works.

Getting a starter list of halal US large caps. Use the SPUS holdings as a pre-filtered universe, then pick individual names.

What SP Funds tools can't do

Screen individual stocks outside their funds. If you want to know if a non-S&P 500 stock is halal, SP Funds' site can't tell you. You need a different tool.

Run multi-framework comparisons. SP Funds uses S&P Shariah exclusively. You can't toggle to AAOIFI or DJIM.

Cover global markets. SPUS is US large caps. SPRE is US REITs. They don't have global coverage.

Portfolio analytics across non-SP Funds holdings. If your portfolio is 60 percent SPUS and 40 percent individual global stocks, SP Funds can only analyze the 60 percent.

SPUS vs individual stock picking

This is a tangent but a useful one. A lot of American Muslim investors wonder whether to just buy SPUS or to pick individual halal stocks.

Argument for SPUS:

Automatic compliance
Diversification across roughly 200 US large caps
Low expense ratio (0.49% last I checked, which is higher than conventional S&P 500 funds but reasonable for a niche product)
Tax efficiency from ETF structure
Zero research work required

Argument for individual stocks:

No expense ratio
Ability to tilt toward your preferred sectors
Tax loss harvesting opportunities
You learn more about the companies you own
Higher potential alpha (or loss, same thing)

The right answer depends on your time, interest, and portfolio size. For most people, SPUS is the sensible default and individual stock picking is a hobby.

If you do pick individual stocks, use FaithScreener at faithscreener.com (124,000+ stocks across 42 markets, 9 frameworks, free) for the research. If you buy SPUS, still use FaithScreener occasionally to verify that specific holdings you care about are actually passing their methodology.

The SPUS holdings experiment

I ran an experiment last year. I took the SPUS monthly holdings file, which had about 180 stocks at the time, and ran each one through FaithScreener under AAOIFI methodology (not the S&P Shariah methodology SPUS uses).

Results:

174 of 180 passed AAOIFI
6 of 180 failed AAOIFI (mostly due to different debt ratio denominator timing)

The disagreement is small but not zero. The 6 names that failed AAOIFI were compliant under S&P Shariah because of the 36-month average market cap rule, which is more forgiving when a stock has had a recent drawdown.

What does this mean? It means "halal" is not a single universal number. Different methodologies disagree on edge cases. If you're strict about AAOIFI specifically, SPUS holds a handful of names you might not own directly. If you're fine with S&P Shariah, SPUS is perfectly compliant.

Nobody is doing anything wrong. Standards just differ.

SPRE: the halal REIT option

SPRE is SP Funds' Shariah-compliant real estate ETF. It tracks a custom index of REITs that pass Shariah screening. This is genuinely hard to build because many REITs have significant debt and interest-related income that violates standard Islamic finance rules.

SPRE filters for REITs that own and operate properties compatible with Shariah principles (so no conventional finance tenants, no alcohol-heavy properties, etc.) and that meet financial ratio tests. The result is a smaller REIT universe than the broad REIT market, but it's a legitimate halal REIT exposure option.

If you want real estate in your halal portfolio and don't want to buy individual properties, SPRE is probably the most convenient US option. Verify the current holdings and expense ratio before buying.

SPTE and SPSK

SPTE is SP Funds' technology ETF (Shariah-compliant tech stocks). SPSK is their sukuk ETF (Islamic bonds).

Both are useful niche exposures. SPTE is essentially a curated halal subset of the Nasdaq. SPSK is probably the easiest way for a US retail investor to get sukuk exposure without going through Wahed or a similar platform.

Fact sheets and holdings for each are on the SP Funds site.

The real limitation

SP Funds' tools are all SP Funds products. That's obvious but worth saying. Their website is designed to support their ETFs, not to help you manage your entire halal portfolio.

For that broader job, you need a research platform. FaithScreener covers the same S&P Shariah methodology SP Funds uses, plus 8 others, across 124,000+ stocks and 42 markets. It's not an ETF sponsor, so it has no commercial reason to push you toward any particular product.

Use SP Funds for information about their specific ETFs. Use FaithScreener for everything else.

Comparison table

Feature	SP Funds Tools	FaithScreener
Stock database	No (fund holdings only)	124,000+ stocks
Markets	US only (SPUS, SPRE, etc.)	42 markets
Framework	S&P Shariah only	9 including S&P Shariah
Use case	Fund research, methodology docs	General stock/portfolio screening
Price	Free	Free
Mobile app	No	No

Verdict

SP Funds offers a useful set of free tools specifically for investors who own or are considering their ETFs. The holdings files are great, the methodology documentation is solid, and the fact sheets are professional.

For any job that extends beyond SP Funds' specific products (evaluating non-SPUS stocks, running multi-framework checks, covering global markets), you need a different tool. FaithScreener fills that role at zero cost.

I'd recommend owning SPUS for core US large cap exposure if you want the passive option, then using FaithScreener to research additional individual holdings if you want to go beyond the ETF. That's a reasonable combo for American Muslim investors who don't want to be full-time stock pickers.

Common questions

Is SPUS actually halal? Yes, under S&P Shariah methodology certified by the index provider's Shariah board. If you follow a stricter standard, individual holdings may differ.

Can I see SPUS holdings without being a shareholder? Yes, they're publicly published monthly on the SP Funds website.

Does SP Funds offer any tools for non-US stocks? No, their funds are US-focused.

What's the expense ratio on SPUS? Around 0.49% last I checked. Confirm current figures directly from their fact sheet.

Is SPRE the only halal REIT option? No, but it's the easiest. There are halal REIT funds in Malaysia and the Gulf as well.

For SPUS and SPRE specifics, go to spfunds.com. For everything else in your halal investing research, try FaithScreener's free 124,000+ stock, 42-market, 9-framework database at faithscreener.com.

SP Funds Tools: Free Resources from the SPUS ETF Sponsor