Old Mutual Albaraka Review (2026): The Assurance Benchmark of SA Halal Investing

Ask which South African halal fund manager can prove its compliance most thoroughly, and the answer is not close. Old Mutual Albaraka, the joint venture between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al Baraka Bank, is the only SA manager that stacks a named three-scholar board, quarterly board meetings, an external Shariah compliance audit and a published annual AAOIFI certificate, and it has been doing the basics since 1 June 1992, when its Equity Fund became the country's first Islamic unit trust. This review covers what that machine delivers, what it costs, and where it falls short.

The three funds

• Old Mutual Albaraka Equity Fund (1992, R3.5 billion): Shariah-screened SA general equity managed by Maahir Jakoet and Fawaz Fakier at Old Mutual Investment Group. TER 1.75% on Class A, 1.29% on the platform B1 class.
• Old Mutual Albaraka Balanced Fund (2010, R7.3 billion): the largest Shariah fund in South Africa and the practical default halal choice on mainstream retirement platforms. A Regulation 28 medium-equity mandate with a sukuk-based defensive sleeve and up to 45% offshore. TER 1.47% A, 1.19% B1.
• Old Mutual Albaraka Income Fund (2020, R2.0 billion): sukuk and Islamic liquid assets against a STeFI Composite benchmark, quarterly distributions, trailing yield around 6.58% on B1 in early 2026. TER 0.71% A, 0.59% B1, the sharpest pricing in the range.

The shelf is deliberately narrow: three building blocks covering growth, retirement core and income. There are no international feeders, no house retirement wrapper, no property fund and no ETF. Minimums are R10,000 lump sum or R500 monthly, with a R30 monthly charge on small direct accounts without a debit order, an avoidable irritation worth knowing about.

The governance machine

This is the franchise's moat, so the detail matters. The Shari'ah Supervisory Board comprises Shaykh MS Omar, Mufti Zubair Bayat and Mufti Shafique Jakhura. It meets quarterly and its process is unusually well documented: reviewing the screened universe's core business activities and financial ratios, receiving an external Shariah compliance audit report (a layer distinct from the board's own review, and rare anywhere in fund management), and signing an annual compliance certificate applying AAOIFI standards. The certificate dated 8 April 2026, covering the year to 31 December 2025, is published openly. Purification is handled with matching discipline: incidental non-permissible income is quantified, disclosed alongside every distribution, and paid to a board-elected charitable trust. For investors who take purification seriously, that per-distribution disclosure is materially better practice than the market norm. One more detail says a lot: Old Mutual reports that over 30% of its Shariah fund clients are not Muslim.

The honest critique

The case against Old Mutual Albaraka is about ambition, not quality. Pricing is fair but never leading: Camissa undercuts every class, sometimes by a wide margin (1.04% versus 1.29% on equity B classes). The B1 classes that make the fees competitive generally require platform or adviser access. The shelf has not expanded in years, so completists still need Oasis for wrappers and property. And a benchmark change in January 2026, moving the funds to Shariah peer-group averages, means the franchise now grades itself partly against its own gravity; long-run comparisons got harder. Performance historically tracks the resource-tilted SA Shariah universe rather than escaping it.

Who it is for

Old Mutual Albaraka is the answer when the first question is 'prove it'. It is also the pragmatic centre of gravity for retirement money: the Balanced Fund sits on virtually every major RA and umbrella platform in the country, which makes building a compliant retirement portfolio around it easy (see our Regulation 28 guide). Cost hawks will pair or replace it with Camissa; that is a fee decision, not a compliance one.

Verdict

Rated A on our Halal Money Index with the deepest Shariah assurance stack in SA fund management. The safest pair of hands in the market, priced accordingly: honest rather than cheap. Full details on the Old Mutual Albaraka provider page and the investing page.

Quick answers

What are the minimums and small-account fees?

R10,000 lump sum or R500 monthly debit order. Note the R30 monthly charge on small direct accounts without a debit order, an avoidable irritation: set up the debit order and it falls away. The B1 classes with sharper pricing generally require platform or adviser access.

How is the Shariah compliance verified?

By the deepest stack in SA fund management: a named board (Shaykh MS Omar, Mufti Zubair Bayat, Mufti Shafique Jakhura) meeting quarterly, an external Shariah compliance audit distinct from the board's own review, and a published annual AAOIFI certificate, most recently dated 8 April 2026 for the year to December 2025.

What happens to non-permissible income?

It is quantified, disclosed alongside every distribution and paid to a board-elected charitable trust, so your received return is already purified. That per-distribution disclosure is materially better practice than the market norm and one reason assurance-first investors default here.

Which of the three funds fits me?

The Balanced Fund (R7.3 billion, Regulation 28) is the practical retirement default and sits on virtually every major platform; the Equity Fund suits growth allocations with defensive assets held elsewhere; the Income Fund (0.59% B1, roughly 6.58% trailing yield) is the assurance-first answer for halal income.