Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Stanbic IBTC Imaan Fund
Islamic Investing in Katsina
Nigeria's largest Shariah-compliant equity fund. Launched in October 2013 by Stanbic IBTC Asset Management (SIAML), a Stanbic IBTC Holdings subsidiary within the Standard Bank group, the Imaan Fund invests at least 70% of its portfolio in Shariah-compliant NGX equities with the balance in sukuk and similar instruments. It was the best performing Shariah fund in Nigeria in H1 2026, returning 54.65% as NAV climbed to ₦31.9bn across 10,140 unitholders. Minimum investment is ₦5,000, the management fee 1.5% per annum, there is no minimum holding period and no penal exit charge. Risk is classed aggressive.
The Imaan Fund is where scale and performance currently meet in Nigerian halal investing. Its H1 2026 print of 54.65% led every Shariah fund in the country, and at ₦31.9bn it dwarfs the equity offerings of specialist rivals. The Standard Bank group parentage brings real operational muscle: clean digital onboarding, daily pricing and a distribution network no boutique can match. The trade-offs are transparency and volatility. Stanbic's Advisory Committee of Experts approves every investment, but its membership is not published on the fund page and there is no purification disclosure, so investors who want named-scholar accountability will prefer Lotus. And a 70%+ equity mandate cuts both ways: the same concentration that produced 54.65% in a bull half-year will produce painful numbers when the NGX turns. Size positions appropriately.
Pros
- Best performing Shariah fund in Nigeria in H1 2026 at +54.65%
- Largest halal equity pool in the country at ₦31.9bn, backed by the Standard Bank group
- ₦5,000 entry, no lock-in and no exit penalty
- Twelve-year track record since October 2013 through multiple NGX cycles
- Convenient digital subscription through the Stanbic IBTC asset management platform
Cons
- Advisory Committee of Experts members are not named publicly, weaker transparency than Lotus's board
- No published purification figure for incidental non-compliant income
- Aggressive risk rating: at least 70% equities means deep drawdowns in NGX bear years
- 1.5% fee plus withholding tax on underlying income drags on net returns
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Product Details
Type
Equity Mutual Fund
Min Investment
₦5,000
Fee
1.5% per annum
Screening Method
Minimum 70% in Shariah-compliant equities, maximum 30% in other Shariah-compliant assets such as sukuk; all investment decisions require oversight and approval of the fund's Advisory Committee of Experts
Holdings
At least 70% Shariah-compliant NGX equities, up to 30% sukuk and other Shariah-compliant instruments
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management in Katsina
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management's Stanbic IBTC Imaan Fund is accessible to investors in Katsina, structured as Shariah-Screened Equity Mutual Fund: Shariah-compliant funds and sukuk in Nigeria are national products with digital onboarding, so state matters less than fees and governance. Minimum investment: ₦5,000. Stanbic IBTC Asset Management operates across Nigeria, so Katsina residents have full access to this product.
Our Take on Stanbic IBTC Asset Management
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management is the scale player in Nigerian halal investing. The Imaan Fund is the market's largest and hottest Shariah equity vehicle, up 54.65% in H1 2026 with ₦31.9bn under management, and the Shari'ah Fixed Income Fund gives conservative savers a no-lock-in sukuk option; both cost 1.5% and open at ₦5,000 with full digital onboarding. The group's Standard Bank parentage shows in operations: daily pricing, clean apps and the deepest distribution network in the industry. The compliance story is institutionally solid but personally opaque. An Advisory Committee of Experts must approve every investment decision, yet its members are not named on the fund pages, no standalone Shariah audit is published, and neither fund discloses purification figures, all areas where Lotus Capital leads. Portfolio character also matters: the Imaan Fund's 70%+ equity floor makes it the most aggressive mainstream halal fund in Nigeria, brilliant in the 2024-2026 bull run, punishing when the NGX turns. Use Stanbic for growth, liquidity and convenience; verify your comfort with committee-level rather than named-scholar oversight before making it your core holding.
How Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Works
Financing Structure
Both products are SEC-registered open-ended unit trusts. The Stanbic IBTC Imaan Fund allocates a minimum of 70% to Shariah-compliant equities and a maximum of 30% to other Shariah-compliant assets such as sukuk; the Stanbic IBTC Shari'ah Fixed Income Fund allocates a minimum of 70% to sukuk and a maximum of 30% to Shariah-compliant fixed-term instruments. Neither may hold interest-bearing securities. Investment decisions require the oversight and approval of the group's Advisory Committee of Experts. Underlying assets are subject to withholding tax; units are issued and redeemed at daily prices with no minimum holding period.
In-Depth Analysis
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management (SIAML) is the fund management arm of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the Nigerian member of South Africa's Standard Bank Group and the country's dominant asset manager. Its Islamic franchise dates to October 2013, when the Imaan Fund launched as one of Nigeria's earliest Shariah equity products, joined in August 2019 by the Shari'ah Fixed Income Fund (SISFIF). Together they bracket the risk spectrum: Imaan holds at least 70% Shariah-compliant NGX equities with the balance in sukuk; SISFIF inverts that, holding at least 70% sukuk with up to 30% in Shariah-compliant fixed-term instruments.
Scale is the franchise's defining feature. The Imaan Fund reached ₦31.9bn in net assets with 10,140 unitholders by mid-2026, several times the size of Lotus Capital's competing balanced fund, and its H1 2026 return of 54.65% led every Shariah-compliant fund in the country as the NGX rallied. SISFIF is the opposite story: at roughly ₦2.36bn it is smaller than Lotus's ₦45.5bn fixed income flagship by a factor of nearly twenty, and 2026 brought weekly NAV contraction as rate conditions shifted. Both funds price daily, open at ₦5,000, charge 1.5% per annum and impose no minimum holding period or exit penalty, terms that make them the most liquid halal funds in Nigeria.
Shariah governance runs through the group's Advisory Committee of Experts (ACE). The Imaan Fund page states that all investment decisions are undertaken with the oversight and approval of the ACE; equities must pass Shariah screening and fixed income is confined to sukuk and similar contracts. What the public record lacks is specificity: no member names on the fund pages, no published Shariah audit, no purification figures. For most retail buyers the SEC's Islamic fund registration plus the ACE process will suffice; diligence-minded investors will notice that Lotus publishes everything Stanbic does not.
The practical portfolio role differs by fund. Imaan is a high-beta halal equity engine, the natural growth allocation for investors a decade from their goals, with the caveat that a 70% equity floor removes the manager's ability to de-risk meaningfully in a downturn. SISFIF is a liquidity sleeve, a place to hold naira between decisions without touching interest, though its 1.5% fee eats a large share of a sukuk yield. The pairing with Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers' Fund VI (see separate profile) lets a household keep pension, growth and cash management all non-interest within one institution, a genuine convenience no other Nigerian group matches end to end.
Shariah Compliance Details
- Both funds registered with SEC Nigeria as open-ended Islamic unit trusts; product pages crawled 2026-08-04 confirm the 70/30 structures and ACE oversight requirement
- Advisory Committee of Experts approval is required for all Imaan Fund investment decisions per the official fund page (verified 2026-08-04); member names not published
- No standalone Shariah audit reports or purification disclosures were found for either fund as of the 2026-08-04 crawl
- Performance and size figures from Nairametrics' July 2026 analysis of SEC data (Imaan: ₦31.9bn NAV, +54.65% H1 2026) and The Investor Side SEC-data tracker (SISFIF: about ₦2.36bn, July 2026) (verified 2026-08-04)
How Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Compares
Stanbic versus Lotus Capital is the central choice in Nigerian halal funds. Stanbic wins on equity scale, recent performance, liquidity terms and digital experience; Lotus wins on named scholars, signed AAOIFI opinions, purification disclosure and fixed income depth (₦45.5bn vs ₦2.36bn). Against United Capital's Sukuk Fund, SISFIF offers identical 1.5% pricing with better liquidity (no 90-day lock) but similarly thin Shariah documentation. Against the Lotus ETF, the Imaan Fund is active, bigger and recently faster, but costs 1.5% versus 0.60% and cannot be traded intraday.
Named Shariah board, purification math and a far larger fixed income fund, at the cost of Stanbic's scale and digital polish
Comparable sukuk fund economics but with a 90-day minimum holding period and no committee reference at all
Automated multi-asset halal portfolios with named scholars, versus Stanbic's DIY fund selection with committee oversight
Bottom Line
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management is where Nigerian halal investors go for scale, performance and liquidity: the ₦31.9bn Imaan Fund led the market with 54.65% in H1 2026 and nothing locks your money in. Accept that Shariah oversight is an unnamed institutional committee rather than published scholars, and size the equity risk honestly.
Read full Stanbic IBTC Asset Management reviewShariah Compliance & Oversight
Supervised by Stanbic IBTC's Advisory Committee of Experts (ACE), which must approve all investment decisions for the fund. Member names are not published on the fund page we crawled on 2026-08-04, and no per-unit purification figure is disclosed, so oversight is institutional rather than publicly attributable to named scholars.
2026-08-04
Why It's Halal
The fund is registered with the SEC as an Islamic unit trust and its governance runs through an Advisory Committee of Experts (ACE), the Shariah supervisory organ Stanbic IBTC uses across its non-interest business line. The product page states that all investment decisions are undertaken with the oversight and approval of the ACE, ensuring adherence to Shariah principles: equities must pass Shariah screening before inclusion, and the fixed income sleeve is confined to sukuk and similar non-interest instruments rather than treasury bills. The 70/30 structure mirrors standard Islamic equity fund design. The honest gaps: SIAML does not publish the names of the ACE members on the fund page, nor a purification (impure income) figure per unit, so an investor cannot independently verify scholar credentials or cleanse incidental income with precision. Compliance rests on the institution's committee process, which is credible but less transparent than Lotus Capital's named board and published opinions.
Regional Availability
Stanbic IBTC Asset Management serves all of Nigeria
✓ Available nationwide including Katsina
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Total Value
₦343,778
Contributed
₦130,000
Growth
₦213,778
Hypothetical projection. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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Important: HalalWallet provides educational information and comparisons to help you explore halal financial options. We do not provide financial, 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.