ITS Shariah ETF: 25.5% return in first year of trading – world-class Islamic investments developing rapidly in Central Asia
CEO of ITS, Chingiz Kanapyanov, presents 25.5% return in its ITS Shariah ETF
Almaty, January 15th.- The international trading system ITS and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) mark the one-year anniversary of the ITS Shariah ETF (ITSS) – the first exchange-traded fund compliant with Islamic finance principles in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
In 2025, the ITS Shariah ETF, which tracks ITS’s own ITS Shariah Index, delivered a 25.5% total return, including dividend payments from index constituents.
Results were presented this morning by the company’s CEO, Chingiz Kanapyanov, during an event in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Over the same period, the ITS Shariah Index, which comprises a portfolio of 30 large-cap U.S. companies selected through Shariah screening, rose 23.6%. For comparison, the S&P 500 increased 16.4% over the same period.
Demand for Shariah-compliant investment instruments continues to expand globally among both Muslim and non-Muslim investors. The approach is based on rules that restrict interest-based financing (riba), excessive uncertainty and speculation (gharar), and exposure to certain prohibited business activities.
“Investors who prefer Islamic instruments are becoming a noticeable force in global markets. Today, there are more than 4,500 Shariah indexes worldwide, and ITSS’s success is a vivid example of how this trend is reaching new regions,” noted Mufti Ibrahim Essa, an international Islamic finance expert who participated in the creation of ITSS.
ITS Shariah ETF: technology, index, and results
ITSS was launched on January 14, 2025, with an initial placement of $5 million. The fund tracks the ITS Shariah Index, calculated since August 2023. It includes 30 major global companies that have passed Shariah screening, including AMD, Apple, AstraZeneca, Caterpillar, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.
For 2025, ITSS delivered one of the best returns among global Shariah ETFs.
A distinctive feature of ITSS is its low entry threshold – investors only need to purchase ITSS shares priced at slightly over $10, while investment income for Kazakhstan tax residents is not subject to taxation.
The ITSS portfolio is reviewed monthly. During rebalancings, an independent Shariah supervisory board assesses issuers against screening criteria, including business activities and selected financial metrics, and updates the index composition as needed.
“We are grateful for the Islamic community’s support and pleased that in its first year, the fund built on the strictest Shariah standards demonstrated its advantages. ITSS is not simply a basket of foreign stocks. ITSS represents the highest-quality global companies behind which stand real products and services bringing daily benefits to millions of people worldwide,” noted ITS Managing Director Alexander Diakovsky.
About ITS
ITS is a trading platform operating under AIFC jurisdiction. ITS offers investors more than 3,200 global market instruments listed in the U.S. and Kazakhstan. Among ITS’s unique products are exchange-traded funds based on proprietary indexes and the ability to trade shares of companies going public before their New York debut.
In 2025, ITS showed record results: total trading volume exceeded $14 billion, 70 times the 2024 figure. The number of investors with trading access exceeded 1.2 million people, with 18 participants from six countries operating in the market: Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Oman, and South Africa.
ITS clients are professional securities market participants from Kazakhstan and other countries – financial intermediaries accredited or registered with the AIFC. Retail and corporate investors access trading through financial intermediaries, such as brokers and banks.
About the AIFC
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) is a financial hub operating on English law principles and providing a platform for developing and placing innovative financial products, including in Islamic finance.
ITS Press Service
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