Is SPTE halal?

SPTE tracks the S&P Global 1200 Shariah Information Technology Capped Index, which screens the information technology constituents of the S&P Global 1200, a broad global large-cap benchmark, for Shariah compliance and applies a capping methodology to limit single-stock concentration. Because it draws from a global rather than US-only universe, SPTE includes companies that SPUS and HLAL, both US-only funds, cannot hold: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is the fund's third-largest position, and Dutch lithography equipment maker ASML and Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek also feature prominently. Alongside these, familiar US names like Apple, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Broadcom, Micron, and Advanced Micro Devices round out a top ten weighted heavily toward semiconductor design, equipment, and manufacturing plus core software and hardware platforms. This gives SPTE meaningfully different geographic diversification than a US-only tech allocation, at the cost of added currency and cross-border regulatory exposure.

SPTE applies the same S&P Shariah business-activity and financial-ratio screens used across the S&P Shariah index family, restricted to the information technology sector of the S&P Global 1200. Technology companies as a sector generally screen cleanly on business activity (few technology companies are in the business of alcohol, gambling, or conventional banking), so most exclusions here come from the financial-ratio test: companies with debt, interest-bearing securities, or receivables exceeding the Shariah-permitted percentage of market capitalization are excluded regardless of what they build. ShariaPortfolio certifies the index and publishes Shariah compliance documentation on the SP Funds website, consistent with its role across the rest of the SP Funds ETF lineup. Because the fund draws from a global index rather than a single country's regulatory regime, investors should note that Taiwanese, South Korean, and other non-US constituents are still screened under the same S&P Shariah methodology, not a separate country-specific standard.

At 0.55%, SPTE is the most expensive fund among SP Funds' core lineup, reflecting both its sector-specific niche and its relatively small asset base (under $200 million as of mid-2026, versus over $2 billion for SPUS). Since its November 2023 launch, SPTE has tracked the broader boom in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related equities, with performance closely tied to a handful of chip designers and equipment makers rather than a diversified technology basket. This concentration cuts both ways: strong periods for AI infrastructure spending have driven strong returns, but the fund will also fall harder than a diversified equity fund if sentiment toward semiconductor and AI-related capital spending turns. The 30-day SEC yield of roughly 0.28% is the lowest of the funds reviewed here, consistent with a growth-oriented, low-dividend-paying sector concentration.

SPTE suits investors who already hold a broad halal core fund like SPUS or HLAL and want to add a deliberate overweight to global technology and semiconductors, including non-US names those broad funds cannot access. It is not appropriate as a standalone holding given its single-sector concentration and higher volatility profile. Investors should size SPTE as a satellite position, be comfortable with meaningful drawdowns during technology sector corrections, and understand that its inclusion of Taiwanese and other Asian semiconductor names introduces geopolitical and currency risk that a purely domestic technology allocation would not carry.

ShariaPortfolio calculates and publishes SPTE's purification figures on the SP Funds website following the same quarterly process used for SPUS and SPRE, with figures typically available roughly 2.5 months after each quarter closes to allow underlying companies, including non-US constituents like Taiwan Semiconductor and MediaTek, time to finalize financial disclosures. Because SPTE's holdings are technology and semiconductor companies rather than banks or REITs, the impermissible income component is almost entirely interest earned on corporate cash reserves, similar to SPUS, rather than any core business-activity concern. Non-US constituents add a layer of complexity to this calculation since their financial reporting standards and disclosure timing differ from US filers, which is part of why SP Funds' purification figures lag the quarter close by roughly ten weeks. Investors receiving SPTE dividends, which are modest given the fund's low yield, should still check the published purification factor (a percentage applied to the dividends received, not a fixed per-share dollar amount) and donate the corresponding amount using the calculator on the SP Funds website, even though the low yield means the absolute dollar figures involved are typically small relative to a fund like SPRE.