Sentio Capital Management Sentio SCI Hikma Shariah General Equity Fund
Islamic Investing in Northern Cape
A quant-flavoured Shariah equity fund launched 1 June 2016 by Sentio Capital Management, the Johannesburg systematic-plus-fundamental boutique, on the Sanlam Collective Investments platform (A2 class ticker SSCGA2, fee class launched 8 September 2017). Note for researchers: Sentio's Shariah range is today branded Hikma; no live fund under the older SciBeta Shariah naming was found in our 2026 crawl. The fund holds Shariah-compliant domestic and global equities and screened property, up to 45% offshore, in the ASISA South African - Equity - General category against the category-average benchmark. Fund size was R768.7 million at the January 2026 MDD, with a 1.21% TER on the A2 class and no performance fee. Since-inception annualised return was 9.38% versus 10.09% for the category average to 31 December 2025. Minimums are steep: R100,000 lump sum or R10,000 monthly, reflecting a wealth-and-institutional target market.
Sentio brings something the SA halal market lacks: a genuinely systematic, risk-budgeted process with published Sharpe ratios and drawdown statistics, applied inside AAOIFI screens. The Hikma General Equity Fund is a credible diversifier next to the fundamental houses, and pricing is fair at 1.21% with no performance fee. Two things hold it back from a stronger endorsement: the anonymous Shariah board, which is out of step with the named-scholar norm the rest of the market upholds, and performance that has tracked slightly behind the average fund it measures itself against. A worthwhile satellite for sophisticated allocators; retail investors will mostly meet Sentio through its cheaper-to-access Balanced sibling on platforms.
Pros
- Differentiated quant-informed style diversifies a halal equity allocation
- Transparent risk reporting beyond peers
- Reasonable fees without performance fee drag
Cons
- Shariah board members are not named in public MDDs
- Since-inception returns trail the category average
- R100,000 direct minimum excludes most retail investors
- Brand history (SciBeta to Hikma) complicates record tracing
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Product Details
Type
Equity Unit Trust
Expense Ratio
1.21% TER (A2 class, 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025); transaction cost 0.25%; total investment charge 1.46%; no performance fee
Min Investment
R100,000 lump sum; R10,000 per month (A2 class per the January 2026 MDD)
Fee
1.10% manager annual fee (A2, incl. VAT)
Screening Method
SSB/SAC-approved instruments only, to AAOIFI-prescribed standards; up to 45% international
Holdings
Top ten at 31 December 2025: MTN 6.5%, Impala Platinum 6.3%, Mr Price 5.3%, Clicks 4.8%, AVI 4.4%, Alphabet 4.3%, Bidvest 4.2%, Gold Fields 3.9%, AngloGold 3.8%, Dubai Islamic Bank 3.7%; 67.8% SA equity, 27.3% non-SA equity
Sentio Capital Management in Northern Cape
Sentio Capital Management's Sentio SCI Hikma Shariah General Equity Fund is accessible to investors in Northern Cape, structured as Shariah-Screened General Equity Unit Trust (Systematic Process): Shariah funds and platform portfolios in South Africa are national digital products, so province matters less than fees and governance. The product reports an expense ratio of 1.21% TER (A2 class, 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025); transaction cost 0.25%; total investment charge 1.46%; no performance fee. Minimum investment: R100,000 lump sum; R10,000 per month (A2 class per the January 2026 MDD). Sentio Capital Management operates across South Africa, so Northern Cape residents have full access to this product.
Our Take on Sentio Capital Management
Sentio's Hikma range is the quant option in SA halal investing: risk-budgeted, systematically informed portfolio construction applied inside AAOIFI screens, with fact sheets that publish the Sharpe ratios and drawdown numbers most halal managers keep to themselves, and no performance fee on the flagship equity fund at a fair 1.21% TER. The R768.7 million General Equity Fund is a credible mid-sized vehicle, and EasyEquities access neutralises the otherwise prohibitive R100,000 direct minimum. The material weakness is governance transparency: the crawled public documents confirm a Shariah Supervisory Board and Shariah Advisory Committee but name no scholars, out of step with a market where Old Mutual Albaraka, Camissa, 27four and Element all print their boards' names. Investors comfortable verifying the board through direct enquiry get a differentiated, well-priced systematic manager; investors who require named, published scholars should look first at the rivals that provide them.
How Sentio Capital Management Works
Pick your access route
Direct investment requires R100,000 lump sum or R10,000 per month on the equity A2 class; most retail investors instead buy fractionally through EasyEquities.
Systematic construction inside the screens
Sentio budgets risk explicitly across AAOIFI-screened positions, with board-approved instruments only, producing return patterns engineered to differ from fundamental rivals.
Check the risk statistics
Fact sheets publish Sharpe ratios, volatility and drawdown figures most halal managers omit; use them, and request the current balanced fund MDD since its TER was not on the crawled platform page.
Verify the board directly
Because scholars are not named in public MDDs, strict investors should request board composition, certificates and purification detail from Sentio before committing.
Standard CIS liquidity
Daily pricing applies across the Hikma range on the Sanlam platform.
Financing Structure
The Hikma funds are Sanlam Collective Investments portfolios with Sentio as investment manager. Mandates restrict holdings to Shariah-compliant equities, property companies and income instruments approved by the SSB or SAC under AAOIFI-prescribed standards. Portfolio construction uses Sentio's quantitative risk-budgeting framework, allocating a risk budget across screened positions, with the balanced and income funds substituting sukuk and Islamic income assets for conventional bonds and cash. The equity fund charges no performance fee.
In-Depth Analysis
Sentio Capital Management is a Johannesburg boutique (FSP 33843) known for blending fundamental analysis with quantitative and machine-learning techniques, and its Shariah range, rebranded Hikma, applies that toolkit to halal mandates on the Sanlam Collective Investments platform. The Sentio SCI Hikma Shariah Balanced Fund launched in January 2016 and the Hikma Shariah General Equity Fund in June 2016; a small Hikma Shariah Income Fund (R47 million per the June 2026 Alexforbes Shari'ah Manager Watch) completes the set. Portfolio managers include Mohamed Mayet, Rayhaan Joosub and Imtiaz Suliman.
The process is the pitch. Sentio budgets risk explicitly across positions rather than sizing purely on conviction, and publishes the resulting statistics: the equity fund's fact sheets carry Sharpe ratios, volatility and drawdown figures that most SA halal fact sheets omit. Inside the AAOIFI screens this produces a portfolio whose behaviour is engineered to differ from both the FTSE/JSE Shari'ah indices and fundamental rivals. At R768.7 million (January 2026 MDD) the flagship is large enough to matter and small enough to stay nimble, and the absence of a performance fee at a 1.21% A2 TER undercuts Oasis and Element equity classes while remaining above Camissa's 1.04%.
Compliance mechanics per the Sanlam MDDs: the funds may only invest in Shariah-compliant instruments approved by the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) or Shariah Advisory Committee (SAC), managed to AAOIFI-prescribed standards, with sukuk and Islamic income instruments replacing bonds and cash in the balanced and income mandates. What the public documents do not do is name a single scholar, and no annual certificate or purification statement appears on the crawled pages. In a market where every major rival prints its board members on the MDD, this is a conspicuous gap that Sentio could close with one paragraph of disclosure.
Practical access shapes the verdict. The A2 class carries a R100,000 lump-sum and R10,000 monthly direct minimum, so virtually all retail flow arrives via platforms, chiefly EasyEquities, where fractional amounts work. For allocators building multi-manager halal portfolios, Hikma's systematic style is a genuine diversifier next to Camissa's contrarian value and 27four's manager blending; for a first-time investor choosing one fund, the unnamed board and the balanced fund's undisclosed current TER argue for starting elsewhere and adding Sentio deliberately.
Shariah Compliance Details
- Per the Sanlam Collective Investments MDDs, the Hikma funds may only invest in Shariah-compliant instruments approved by the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) or Shariah Advisory Committee (SAC) (crawled 2026-08-05)
- Funds are managed to comply with Shariah and the standards prescribed by AAOIFI, with sukuk and Islamic income instruments replacing bonds and cash in balanced and income mandates
- Individual scholar names, annual certificates and purification figures are not published in the crawled public documents; investors should request these directly from Sentio
How Sentio Capital Management Compares
Against Camissa, Sentio offers a systematic style and no performance fee, but costs more (1.21% vs 1.04%) with far weaker scholar disclosure. Against Element, Sentio has the bigger equity fund, sharper price and better risk reporting; Element counters with named scholars, an internal AAOIFI-certified auditor and published certificates. Against Oasis and Old Mutual Albaraka, Sentio is the modern quant alternative without their governance paper trails or product breadth. As a satellite in a diversified halal portfolio, the style diversification argument is strong; as a sole holding, the transparency gap matters more.
Cheaper flagship with named AAOIFI-standard scholars; choose Camissa as the core, Sentio as the systematic satellite.
The governance-transparency boutique with published certificates; choose Element for verifiable compliance, Sentio for quantitative process and lower equity fees.
Multi-manager diversification with an external named board; choose 27four for manager spread, Sentio for direct systematic equity exposure.
Bottom Line
Sentio's Hikma range brings quantitative risk budgeting and honest risk reporting to SA halal investing at fair fees with no performance fee on the flagship. The unnamed Shariah board on public documents is the one serious flaw: verify the scholars directly, use EasyEquities to bypass the R100,000 direct minimum, and treat Hikma as the systematic diversifier in a portfolio anchored by better-documented managers.
Read full Sentio Capital Management reviewShariah Compliance & Oversight
Per the Sanlam Collective Investments minimum disclosure documents, the Sentio SCI Hikma Shariah funds may only invest in Shariah-compliant instruments that have been approved by the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) or Shariah Advisory Committee (SAC) from time to time, and are managed to comply with Shariah (Islamic law) and the standards prescribed by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). Individual board member names are not published on the crawled MDDs (verified 2026-08-05).
2026-08-05
Why It's Halal
The MDD states the portfolio invests only in Shariah-compliant domestic and global equities, property companies and capital-protection instruments approved by the Shariah Supervisory Board or Shariah Advisory Committee, managed to AAOIFI-prescribed standards, and its holdings (MTN, Impala Platinum, Mr Price, Clicks, AVI, Alphabet, Dubai Islamic Bank at end-2025) reflect a classic Shariah-screened book. Honest caveats: unlike every other major SA Shariah manager, the crawled MDDs do not name the individual scholars on the board, which is a governance-transparency gap; the fund has modestly trailed its category benchmark since inception (9.38% vs 10.09% annualised); and the R100,000 minimum locks out ordinary retail investors on the direct route, though platform access (including EasyEquities for sibling funds) softens this.
Regional Availability
Sentio Capital Management serves all of South Africa
✓ Available nationwide including Northern Cape
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NationwideHalal Investment Growth Estimate
See how your halal investments could grow over time
Total Value
RÂ 343Â 778
Contributed
RÂ 130Â 000
Growth
RÂ 213Â 778
Hypothetical projection. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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Important: HalalWallet provides general information and comparisons to help you explore halal financial options. HalalWallet, Inc is not a licensed financial services provider under the FAIS Act and is not registered with the FSCA or the SARB; nothing on this site is financial advice as defined by FAIS, and we do not provide legal or religious advice. Product structures and Shariah compliance oversight vary by provider. Always verify halal compliance directly with providers and consult with qualified Islamic finance advisors or scholars for guidance on specific products and your individual circumstances.