The FBN Halal Fund still exists; it is now called the First Asset Halal Fund and is run by First Asset Management, the renamed FBNQuest Asset Management. On 5 October 2026 the manager's website quoted a bid and offer price of N157.44 a unit and a yield of 14.21%. The fund takes a minimum of N5,000, charges a 1.5% management fee inside a 1.89% total expense ratio, requires a 90-day minimum holding period, accrues income daily and distributes it annually. The August 2026 factsheet put the fund at N6.46bn with 54% in Mudarabah contracts and 34% in FGN sukuk. It is a sound, low-to-medium-risk sukuk and placement fund; whether it beats Lotus or Stanbic depends on what you value, and the halal investing hub frames that choice.
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What happened to the FBN Halal Fund and FBNQuest Asset Management
The name on the fund changed because the group above it reorganised. FBN Holdings, the parent of First Bank of Nigeria, became First HoldCo in 2025, and the asset management subsidiary that had traded as FBNQuest Asset Management now trades as First Asset Management. Its factsheets, address at 16 Keffi Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, and the invest@first-assetmanagement.com contact all carry the new name. The fund that was marketed as the FBN Halal Fund, and before that the FBNQuest Halal Fund, appears in the August 2026 factsheet as the First Asset Halal Fund with the same 4 May 2020 launch date.
For a unitholder nothing structural changed. The fund remains registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a unit trust, your units are the same units, the custodian named on the factsheet is Standard Chartered Bank, and the two named fund managers are Ifeoluwa Dixon and Tutu Owolabi-Kadiku. If you hold an old FBNQuest statement, the unit count on it is still your unit count. What did change is where you look for prices: the First Asset Management site now carries a daily price strip for all its funds, including the Halal Fund.
Fund facts as published in the August 2026 factsheet
The factsheet is dated 31 August 2026 and is the most recent full disclosure I could fetch. The website price strip was updated to 5 October 2026 and shows a higher price and a slightly different yield, which is normal for a fund that accrues income daily. Both sets of figures are below so that you can see the direction of travel.
| Fund fact | Published value | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Launch date | 4 May 2020 | Factsheet, 31 August 2026 |
| Fund size | N6.46bn | Factsheet, 31 August 2026 |
| NAV per unit | N155.50 on 31 August; N157.44 bid and offer on 5 October 2026 | Factsheet; website price strip |
| Yield to maturity and annualised return | 13.89% YTM and 14.27% annualised at 31 August; 14.21% yield on 5 October | Factsheet; website |
| Minimum investment | N5,000 | Factsheet |
| Minimum holding period | 90 days | Factsheet |
| Management fee and total expense ratio | 1.50% and 1.89% | Factsheet |
| Income accrual and distribution | Daily accrual, annual distribution | Factsheet |
The factsheet classes the risk profile as Low-Medium and names the FGN 3 Year Benchmark Bond as the benchmark. What it does not state is any penalty for redeeming inside the 90-day holding period, so ask the manager in writing what happens if you exit early; most Nigerian sukuk funds take a share of accrued income on early redemption, but I could not confirm First Asset's terms on the pages I fetched.
What the fund actually holds
The factsheet describes the fund as investing in Shariah-compliant instruments such as sukuk, Ijarah (lease), Murabaha (cost-plus mark-up) and Mudarabah (working partner) contracts. The allocation bands are wide: FGN sukuk 10% to 85%, corporate sukuk 0% to 70%, Mudarabah contracts 0% to 80%, and long-term Shariah contracts 0% to 55%. On 31 August 2026 the actual split was 54% Mudarabah contracts, 34% FGN sukuk, 7% corporate sukuk and 5% long-term Shariah contracts.
That split matters for how you should think about the fund. More than half the portfolio is in Mudarabah placements with non-interest financial institutions, which behave like term deposits: stable, income-generating, not marked to market in the way sukuk are. Only about 41% is in sukuk. The fund's commentary for August attributes performance to accrued rental income from the portfolio's Shariah-compliant assets, which is consistent with a placement-heavy book. If you want pure sukuk exposure, the edition's piece on sukuk funds versus buying FGN sukuk directly explains the trade-off.
Returns since launch, as the manager reports them
The factsheet's total return history shows 9.28% year to date for 2026 to the end of August, 15.58% for full-year 2025, 15.23% for 2024, 12.73% for 2023 and 10.35% for 2022, with an inception-to-date total return of 113.03%. The fund's own benchmark series is more volatile, which reflects the benchmark being a traded bond rather than a blend of placements and sukuk. These figures are the manager's, calculated on its own basis, and past performance is not a promise; the direction is steady, the level tracks non-interest money-market and sukuk yields with a lag.
At N157.44 on 5 October 2026 against N155.50 on 31 August, the unit price rose about 1.25% in five weeks, which is in line with the roughly 14% annualised yield the manager quotes. For a saver comparing this with a Mudarabah term deposit at a non-interest bank, the relevant number is the net yield after the 1.89% expense ratio, which is what the quoted price movement already reflects.
Shariah oversight: what First Asset publishes and what it does not
The fund page and factsheet state that the fund is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and describe its investment universe as Shariah-compliant contracts. They do not name a Shariah adviser, an advisory board or a certification body on the pages I fetched on 11 September 2026. That is a disclosure gap compared with Lotus Capital, whose provider page records a standing advisory committee. Before subscribing, email invest@first-assetmanagement.com and ask for the name of the Shariah adviser, the date of the most recent compliance review and the purification policy for any non-compliant income. A manager that holds 54% in Mudarabah placements should be able to say which institutions it places with.
How to subscribe and redeem
First Asset Management publishes a client portal with a user guide dated August 2025 on its site, and the Halal Fund page invites you to fill a form so a financial adviser calls you back. The manager's contact lines are +234 (1) 2702290-4 and +234 (0) 708 065 3100. Settlement timing for redemptions is not stated on the fund page or factsheet; ask for it in writing, along with the early-exit terms, before you fund the account.
- Register on the First Asset Management client portal using the August 2025 user guide, or submit the call-back form on the Halal Fund page.
- Complete KYC with BVN, a valid ID and proof of address, which is standard for SEC-registered unit trusts.
- Fund from any bank account; the minimum is N5,000 and the units are priced at the day's NAV, N157.44 on 5 October 2026.
- Hold for at least 90 days to avoid whatever early-exit charge applies; confirm that charge in writing first.
- Decide whether to take the annual distribution as cash or reinvest it; income accrues daily into the price in the meantime.
- Download a statement each quarter and keep your unit count, since the fund's name has already changed once.
First Asset Halal Fund against Lotus, Stanbic and United Capital
Four naira sukuk and placement funds compete for the same saver. The table uses each manager's most recent published factsheet or product page that I fetched. Prices are on different dates, so compare structure, cost and holding terms rather than price.
| Fund | Launched | Size | Minimum | Holding period | Fee | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Asset Halal Fund | May 2020 | N6.46bn (Aug 2026) | N5,000 | 90 days | 1.5% mgmt, 1.89% TER | Annual |
| Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund | May 2016 | N48.31bn (Q2 2026) | 5 units (N1,319.45 NAV at Q2 2026) | 30 days | 1.5% mgmt | Quarterly; N39.06 a unit in March 2026 |
| Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund | August 2019 | Not stated on page fetched | N5,000 | None | 1.5% mgmt | Not stated on page fetched |
| United Capital Sukuk Fund | 2020 | N4.1bn (June 2026) | N10,000 | 90 days | 1.5% mgmt, 1.8% TER | Annual |
Lotus is the scale leader with the shortest lock-in and quarterly cash; its Q2 2026 factsheet lists 38 distributions since inception. Stanbic IBTC Asset Management is the most flexible, with no minimum holding period and a stated minimum of 70% in sukuk. United Capital is the closest like-for-like to First Asset on size, lock-in and fee. ARM's newer fund is reviewed separately in the ARM Sharia Fixed Income Fund review. The broader Shariah-compliant mutual funds comparison adds equity and balanced funds to the picture.
Verdict: who should hold the First Asset Halal Fund
Hold it if you are already a FirstBank or First Asset client, you want one more naira income fund inside the group, and you are comfortable that more than half the book sits in Mudarabah placements rather than sukuk. The cost is in line with the market at 1.5%, the N5,000 minimum is low, and the quoted yield of 14.21% on 5 October 2026 is competitive with the other three funds in the table. Ask the two questions the manager has not answered in print, the Shariah adviser and the early-exit charge, and if the answers are clear, it is a reasonable core holding.
Choose Lotus instead if you want quarterly cash distributions, a 30-day lock-in and the longest Shariah governance record among Nigerian managers. Choose Stanbic if you may need the money at short notice, since it has no holding period. Choose United Capital if you want a near-identical product at a marginally lower total expense ratio. Use the fund comparison tool to line them up with your own amount. Facts checked against first-assetmanagement.com, lotuscapitallimited.com, stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com, unitedcapitalplcgroup.com on 11 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is the FBN Halal Fund the same as the First Asset Halal Fund?
Yes. The fund launched on 4 May 2020 under FBNQuest Asset Management, was marketed as the FBN Halal Fund, and now appears on factsheets as the First Asset Halal Fund after FBN Holdings became First HoldCo in 2025 and the manager was renamed First Asset Management. The units, custodian (Standard Chartered Bank) and SEC registration carried over; only the name and the website changed.
What is the minimum investment in the FBN Halal Fund?
N5,000, according to the August 2026 factsheet. Units are bought at the day's NAV, which was N157.44 on 5 October 2026, so N5,000 buys roughly 31.76 units. There is a 90-day minimum holding period. The manager does not publish a separate minimum for additional subscriptions on the pages I fetched, so ask when you open the account.
What returns has the FBN Halal Fund delivered?
The 31 August 2026 factsheet reports 9.28% year to date for 2026, 15.58% for 2025, 15.23% for 2024, 12.73% for 2023 and 10.35% for 2022, with 113.03% total return since inception. The quoted yield on the website on 5 October 2026 was 14.21%. These are the manager's own figures, net of the 1.89% total expense ratio, and past performance is not a guarantee.
What does the First Asset Halal Fund invest in?
Sukuk and Shariah-compliant contracts. On 31 August 2026 the portfolio was 54% Mudarabah contracts, 34% FGN sukuk, 7% corporate sukuk and 5% long-term Shariah contracts. The allocation bands allow FGN sukuk from 10% to 85%, corporate sukuk up to 70%, Mudarabah up to 80% and long-term contracts up to 55%, so the mix can shift materially between factsheets.
Who is the Shariah adviser to the FBN Halal Fund?
First Asset Management does not name a Shariah adviser or advisory board on the fund page or the August 2026 factsheet. The documents state only that the fund invests in Shariah-compliant instruments and is registered with the SEC. Ask the manager by email for the adviser's name, the latest review date and the income purification policy before you subscribe; the answer should be in writing.
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Is the FBN Halal Fund better than the Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund?
They differ more on terms than on cost; both charge 1.5%. Lotus is far larger at N48.31bn, locks you in for only 30 days and pays quarterly, with N39.06 a unit distributed in March 2026. First Asset is N6.46bn, locks in for 90 days and pays annually, but has a lower entry at N5,000 against five Lotus units. Pick Lotus for liquidity and governance disclosure; pick First Asset if you want to stay inside the First HoldCo group.
