The standard S&P 500 is not halal: it includes banks, insurers, alcohol producers and heavily indebted companies. Its Islamic versions, such as the S&P 500 Shariah, keep only the companies that pass a business activity screen and a set of financial ratios. From Switzerland, an “S&P 500 halal” in the broad sense mostly means UCITS ETFs on the MSCI USA Islamic index, listed on SIX (HSBC) or on BX Swiss (iShares), or an ETF on the S&P 500 Shariah listed in London.
The S&P 500 is the most widely followed index in the world: the 500 largest companies listed in the United States, summed up in a single figure. Many Muslim investors want the same exposure without the companies that Sharia excludes. There is strong demand for a halal version, and several products have been built to meet it, with indices, fees and conditions of access from Switzerland that vary from one to another.
This page explains why the standard index is not suitable and what its Islamic version keeps, then compares the ETFs that are available. The data come from the issuers' documents and from the Swiss stock exchange as at 3 November 2026, and are given without any recommendation to buy.
Why the standard S&P 500 is not halal
An ETF on the S&P 500 holds every company in the index, without any sorting. Among them are large banks and insurers, whose business rests on interest; makers of alcoholic drinks; media and entertainment groups; and companies that pay for their growth with heavy borrowing. No known scholarly opinion accepts such a basket as it stands.
An ordinary S&P 500 ETF cannot be put right by “purifying” it, because the problem lies with entire companies and not with a small part of their revenue. To make the S&P 500 halal, the screening has to happen upstream, in the index itself.
What is the S&P 500 Shariah?
The S&P 500 Shariah is the Islamic version of the index, published by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The companies are screened by Ratings Intelligence Partners, a firm specialising in Sharia compliance. A company is excluded if more than 5% of its revenue comes from prohibited activities. It is also excluded if its debt exceeds 33% of its average market capitalisation over 36 months. According to the documents of the funds that use the index, a company that is already included only leaves after three consecutive periods above the threshold.
We were unable to consult S&P's full methodology (access was refused on the publisher's website), so we give only the criteria confirmed by the funds' own documents. The other main family, the MSCI USA Islamic, applies the MSCI method described on our page about the MSCI World Islamic: three ratios calculated on total assets, each at most 33.33%.
Which ETFs cover halal US shares?
As at 3 November 2026, four funds offer Islamic exposure to the large US companies:
| Fund | Index, fees, distribution, access from Switzerland |
|---|---|
| HSBC MSCI USA Islamic ScreenedIE000I5NV504 | MSCI USA Islamic Universal Screened index · fees 0.30% · accumulating · SIX: HIUA (USD) · purification carried out by the fund |
| iShares MSCI USA IslamicIE00B296QM64 | MSCI USA Islamic index · fees 0.30% · distributing · not on SIX; BX Swiss: ISUS (USD) · purification carried out by the fund since 2026 |
| Wahed S&P 500 Shariah UCITSIE000QF8TEK7 | Actively managed, benchmark S&P 500 Shariah · fees 0.49% · accumulating · London only (SPWI, USD) · amount to purify published every year · no representative in Switzerland found |
| SP Funds S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions (SPUS)US ETF | S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions index · fees 0.45% · domiciled in the United States, no key information document · not listed in Switzerland |
Sources: issuers' factsheets and fund supplements, SPUS prospectus filed with the SEC (March 2026), reference data from SIX Swiss Exchange and BX Swiss, checked on 3 November 2026.
Only the Wahed fund refers directly to the S&P 500 Shariah, and it is actively managed: it does not replicate the index exactly and it adds ethical screens of its own. The two MSCI USA Islamic funds track a different index, built on the same universe of large US companies. For most investors in Switzerland, these two funds are the most accessible way to hold an “S&P 500 halal”.
What about US ETFs such as SPUS or HLAL?
The best-known Islamic ETFs in the United States (SPUS, HLAL, UMMA) are domiciled there and have no key information document within the meaning of Swiss law. The Financial Services Act prohibits offering or recommending them to a retail client without this document (Art. 58), but it does not require the document when the provider merely executes an order placed on the client's own initiative (Art. 8 para. 4).
In practice, access therefore depends on each broker, and their policies vary. A US-domiciled ETF also brings other tax formalities: US withholding tax on the dividends, the W-8BEN form, then a claim for a tax credit in Switzerland. These are products to approach with caution, and ones that we cannot recommend to you.
Tax treatment: UCITS or US?
In a UCITS ETF domiciled in Ireland, US dividends are subject to withholding tax at the level of the fund. You cannot reclaim it, and the fund pays out or reinvests the net amount. In Switzerland, you declare this income and the value of your units, with no further steps to take.
In an ETF domiciled in the United States, the withholding tax is deducted from your own dividends. Once you have completed the W-8BEN form with your broker, the double taxation agreement between Switzerland and the United States limits it to 15%, and you can have that amount credited against your Swiss taxes with form DA-1. This takes more paperwork, for an advantage that depends on your situation: speak to a tax adviser before choosing this route.
A concentrated exposure
US Islamic indices exclude banks and insurers, which carry a lot of weight in the S&P 500. As a result, technology and healthcare take up more room, and the ten largest holdings make up a large share of the fund. The exact breakdown is given in each ETF's monthly factsheet.
Making the S&P 500 halal does not change the fact that it is an investment in dollars and in a single country. For someone whose everyday currency is the Swiss franc, it is usually combined with other regions and other asset classes: see our guide to halal ETFs for the global, European and emerging market funds, and our method to invest 10'000 CHF the halal way.
What should you check before buying?
- The exact index. S&P 500 Shariah, MSCI USA Islamic or S&P 500 Sharia Industry Exclusions: three methods that are close to each other, but not identical.
- The trading venue. SIX, BX Swiss or London: the venue determines the order fees and whether your broker offers the fund at all.
- Purification. Carried out by the fund (HSBC, iShares) or left to you (Wahed, and SPUS according to its own documentation).
- Distribution. Dividends paid out or reinvested: income tax applies in both cases, and for an accumulating fund it is based on the amount published by the Federal Tax Administration.
The steps of a first purchase are set out in our guide on how to buy a halal ETF, and the religious debate about the tolerance built into these indices on our page Are halal ETFs halal?.
This content is provided for educational purposes and does not constitute a fatwa: as questions of compliance involve differences between schools of jurisprudence, it is for each person to refer to a competent religious authority for their own situation. Nor does it constitute a recommendation to buy or sell, or investment advice within the meaning of the Financial Services Act (LSFin).