Aghaz Robo-Advisor: A FaithScreener Alternative for Hands-Off Investors

Aghaz is one of the newer values-based robo-advisors in the US market. They positioned themselves as a platform for "investing according to your values," with halal as one of their options alongside other values frameworks. If you're a Muslim investor who wants robo-advisor convenience but finds Wahed's fees high or wants more portfolio flexibility, Aghaz is worth looking at.

I've tested their platform over the past few months. Here's the honest breakdown.

What Aghaz is

Aghaz is a registered investment advisor offering automated portfolio management through a mobile app and web interface. They build portfolios that align with the user's stated values, which can include religious principles like Islamic compliance, ethical considerations like ESG, or more specific causes.

For halal investing specifically, they apply Shariah screening to build a portfolio of individual stocks (not just ETFs) that meet your criteria. That's a meaningful differentiator from Wahed, which primarily uses ETFs.

Fees

• Management fee: around 0.49% to 0.89% annually depending on tier and account size
• Minimum account: varies, check current terms
• No trading commissions (managed account structure)

Roughly comparable to Wahed's fee structure. Cheaper than traditional wealth managers but more expensive than self-directed investing with FaithScreener.

On a $100,000 portfolio, 0.49% is about $490/year. On $500,000, around $2,450. Standard robo-advisor math.

Portfolio construction

This is where Aghaz differs from Wahed. Aghaz builds portfolios of individual stocks rather than ETFs. That means:

• Your account holds shares of specific companies, not ETF shares
• Tax loss harvesting is possible at the individual security level
• You can see exactly what you own
• You avoid layered fees (ETF expense ratio on top of management fee)
• You can exclude specific companies you have personal concerns about

The downside: less automatic diversification than an ETF, potentially higher rebalancing costs, and more complexity under the hood. For most investors this is a wash, but it's a real philosophical difference.

Aghaz's model works through direct indexing, a technique that's becoming more common in RIAs. It lets them implement values-based customization more granularly than an ETF sponsor can.

Shariah methodology

Aghaz uses AAOIFI-based screening as its primary methodology for halal portfolios. They apply the standard sector exclusions and financial ratio tests. Their Shariah advisors review the methodology and the specific stocks selected.

They don't expose the methodology settings to users in the same way FaithScreener does. You can't toggle between AAOIFI, DJIM, MSCI Islamic, or S&P Shariah. You get Aghaz's implementation of their chosen standard.

For most users this is fine. For methodology-sensitive investors, it's a limitation.

The values menu

Aghaz's broader appeal is that you can combine values. You can say "I want halal AND low-carbon AND no weapons AND diversity-positive." The platform tries to optimize your portfolio to meet all those criteria simultaneously.

This is cool for investors who want specific overlays. It's also constraining: the more filters you add, the smaller your investable universe becomes, and performance can drift from standard benchmarks in ways that are hard to predict.

For pure halal investors, you probably just pick halal and leave the other filters alone. For mixed-values investors (halal plus climate, for example), the combination is legitimately useful and hard to replicate with simpler tools.

Customer experience

Aghaz's mobile app is solid but not as polished as Zoya or Musaffa. The web interface is functional. Onboarding is straightforward: risk questionnaire, values questionnaire, account funding, go.

Customer service is responsive when I've tested it. They have real humans you can contact, which is refreshing in the robo-advisor space.

Who Aghaz is right for

Values-conscious investors who want halal compliance plus other overlays (ESG, climate, etc.) in a single integrated portfolio.

Robo-advisor seekers who want something other than Wahed and find the fee structure acceptable.

Direct indexing fans who prefer owning individual securities over ETFs for tax and transparency reasons.

Smaller accounts where the direct indexing approach is made accessible by the platform (historically, direct indexing required much larger minimums).

Who it's not right for

Methodology purists who want to choose between AAOIFI, DJIM, and other frameworks.

Large accounts where the 0.49% fee compounds into significant drag over decades and self-directed options make more sense.

Active researchers who want to pick individual stocks based on their own analysis.

Investors in non-US markets since Aghaz is primarily a US retail platform.

Aghaz vs FaithScreener: different categories

Let me be clear about the comparison. Aghaz manages money. FaithScreener researches stocks. These are different jobs.

If you want someone else to handle your investments automatically, Aghaz (or Wahed, or Sharia Portfolio) is a category you should look at. FaithScreener doesn't do this and isn't trying to.

If you want to research and select your own investments, FaithScreener's free 124,000+ stock database across 42 markets and 9 frameworks is exactly the tool. Aghaz doesn't help you do this.

The question isn't "Aghaz or FaithScreener." It's "do I want automation or research?" Answer that first, then pick the appropriate product.

Fee drag math

If you have $250,000 to invest over 30 years at 7% compounded returns:

• With Aghaz at 0.49%: roughly $430,000 in foregone growth vs zero-fee
• With self-directed (FaithScreener + brokerage): no fee drag

That's a big number. But it's a number that only matters if self-directed actually matches Aghaz's performance. If Aghaz's active management and tax loss harvesting add enough value to cover the fee, the drag is less painful.

In practice, the empirical evidence on whether active management adds value net of fees is mixed. For most retail investors, the fee drag is a real cost that isn't fully offset by active management benefits. This is why index investing (halal or otherwise) is a defensible default.

The hybrid option

Some Aghaz users keep their IRA in Aghaz for automation and their taxable brokerage in self-directed mode using FaithScreener. The logic: IRA is retirement, handle it once and forget; taxable brokerage is where you want more control for tax-loss harvesting and opportunistic moves.

This works fine. You don't have to pick one philosophy for your entire investing life.

A note on values drift

One thing I watch in values-based robo-advisors: does the methodology drift over time? When a fund company rebalances, do they quietly loosen criteria to keep performance competitive? This has happened in ESG funds, and it could happen in halal ones too.

Aghaz publishes its methodology. Read it annually. Check if anything has changed. Trust but verify.

Comparison summary

Feature	Aghaz	Wahed	FaithScreener	Self-directed
Type	Robo-advisor	Robo-advisor	Research tool	DIY
Holdings	Individual stocks	ETFs mostly	N/A	Your choice
Fees	0.49%-0.89%	0.49%-0.99%	Free	Free
Customization	Values overlays	Risk tiers	Any framework	Any approach
Manages money	Yes	Yes	No	No
Covers 124,000+ stocks	No	No	Yes	N/A

Verdict

Aghaz is a solid choice if you want a values-based robo-advisor with halal as one of multiple overlays. The direct indexing approach is interesting and gives you some tax advantages over ETF-based competitors. Fees are in line with the broader robo-advisor market.

For pure halal investing without other values overlays, Wahed is simpler and comparable on fees. For the research-heavy self-directed approach, FaithScreener plus a commission-free brokerage is cheaper and more flexible.

Pick based on your actual style. There's no single right answer, just tradeoffs.

Common questions

Can I use Aghaz outside the US? Primarily US-based. Check current eligibility directly with them.

What's the minimum account size? It varies and they've changed it over time. Check their current terms.

Is Aghaz new and risky? They're newer than Sharia Portfolio but they're a real registered investment advisor with regulatory oversight. Fine for mainstream retail use.

Can I connect Aghaz to FaithScreener? No, they don't integrate. You could manually export Aghaz's holdings and run them through FaithScreener for a second opinion if you want.

What happens if Aghaz shuts down? Your assets are custodied at a third party (typically a major broker), so they're protected. You'd transfer to another advisor or self-direct.

Robo-advisors like Aghaz exist for people who want automation. Research tools like FaithScreener exist for people who want to make their own decisions. Pick based on which lane you're in. If you want to explore the research lane, FaithScreener at faithscreener.com has the deepest free database of halal compliance data available: 124,000+ stocks, 42 markets, 9 frameworks, zero subscription.