Most 'Shariah retirement annuities' in South Africa are conventional wrappers holding Islamic funds: compliant portfolios inside ordinary plumbing. The Oasis Crescent Retirement Annuity Fund is the other thing entirely, a purpose-built Shariah wrapper where the fund, its administrator, its investment manager and its scholars all belong to one certified perimeter. It is the closest thing to an end-to-end halal retirement product on the continent. This review takes it seriously enough to price its trade-offs.
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What it is
An FSCA-registered, SARS-approved retirement annuity fund running a moderate-risk balanced Shariah mandate under Regulation 28, invested across Shariah-compliant equity, property and sukuk-type income instruments through the Oasis Crescent fund range. Administration sits with Oasis Crescent Retirement Solutions (Pty) Ltd, the group's own licensed pension fund administrator, with Oasis Crescent Capital as investment advisor. Contributions start at R500 a month, single or recurring, with transfers accepted from other approved pension, provident and RA funds. Contributions earn the standard tax relief: deductible up to 27.5% of the greater of taxable income or remuneration, capped at R350,000 a year. Reporting is GIPS-compliant with daily pricing submitted to S&P Micropal, Bloomberg and Failaka, institutional-grade transparency on the performance side.
The governance case
This is why the product exists. Shariah Investment Guidelines are embedded in the fund's constitutive documents, not adopted as marketing, and compliance is certified by Shaykh Nedham Yaqoobi, Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo and Dr Mohd Daud Bakar, with signed confirmations covering the Retirement Annuity Fund published on the Oasis site. Purification of non-permissible income runs at fund level across the range. In a category where Sygnia names no scholars and 27four publishes no group board, this is the deepest verifiable assurance available for retirement money, and because the administrator is also in-house, there is no conventional intermediary layer anywhere in the chain.
The lifecycle argument
The RA is one piece of the only complete Shariah retirement stack in the country: preservation pension and provident funds for job-change money, and the Crescent Pension Annuity waiting at compulsory annuitisation. That last piece matters more than buyers realise. Every RA must eventually buy an annuity, the compliant annuity market is two providers deep, and Oasis owns one of them, so an Oasis RA saver retires without a forced transfer. Competitors cannot say that; a Sygnia saver must move at retirement (fine, but friction), and only 27four matches the in-house endgame. The living annuity guide covers what happens at that gate.
The case against, priced honestly
- Fee opacity: no simple published fee table. There is no initial administration fee, but ongoing administration plus performance-linked investment management fees are disclosed per class in application forms, so you must request the effective annual cost for your contribution level to compare it against anything. Performance-linked fees can also exceed flat-fee rivals in strong years.
- Closed menu: the RA holds Oasis Crescent portfolios only. No Camissa, no external sukuk funds, no self-directed blending. If you develop views about other managers over thirty years, this wrapper cannot express them.
- Fund-level detail requires digging: fact sheet performance must be read per underlying portfolio rather than at wrapper level.
- The cost benchmark exists: Sygnia's platform RA with an AAOIFI-screened fund at flat fees is the structural price floor for the category, and the Oasis premium over it is the price of the scholars, the in-house administration and the endgame.
Who should buy it
Buy the Oasis RA if your first criterion is certified end-to-end compliance and you value never transferring: one house from first debit order to final drawdown, with the strongest published scholar assurance in the market. Choose differently if cost or flexibility leads: the three-way RA comparison sets Oasis against 27four and Sygnia in detail. Either way, get the EAC quote in writing first; conviction should be priced, not assumed. Rated on our Halal Money Index, with full details on the Oasis Crescent provider page and the retirement page.
Quick answers
What is the minimum contribution?
R500 per month, single or recurring, per the Oasis fund selection page, with transfers accepted from other approved pension, provident and RA funds. That entry level makes the purist option accessible to first-job savers, not just established professionals.
How much tax do I get back?
Contributions are deductible up to 27.5% of the greater of taxable income or remuneration, capped at R350,000 a year, exactly as with any approved retirement fund. Using the Shariah wrapper costs none of the tax break; claim it every year through your return or payroll.
What will it cost me in fees?
There is no initial administration fee, then an ongoing monthly administration fee plus performance-linked investment management fees on the underlying Oasis Crescent portfolios, disclosed per class in the application forms rather than a published table. Request the effective annual cost for your contribution level in writing and compare it against Sygnia and 27four before signing.
Compare providers in your state
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Can I move an existing RA to Oasis?
Yes, transfers in from other approved retirement funds are accepted, and at the other end the in-house Crescent Pension Annuity means you never face a forced transfer at retirement. That end-to-end continuity is the product's core argument.