Mubasher: Alpaca, a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure for stocks, ETFs, options, and fixed income, partnered with Kuwait-based digital investment platform ZAD to expand access to Shariah-compliant investment products.
This collaboration will provide investors with access to align their financial growth with Islamic principles worldwide, according to a press release.
The global Islamic finance assets exceeded $5.50 trillion in 2024, and a report from Standard Chartered expected that they might reach $7.50 trillion by 2028.
This is driven by key markets like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait, and the UAE, with countries across Southeast Asia and Africa witnessing rising demand for Shariah-compliant financial solutions.
ZAD is currently scaling access to their local Kuwait market and GCC markets like Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Alotaibi, ZAD’s Co-Founder and Deputy CEO of Fintech Brokerage, commented: “If we were a conventional investment application, we would not have reached the growth levels that we have in the past couple of years. It is very important for the people in the region. They really appreciate it, they want it, and they’re very careful with what they buy.”
ZAD joined forces with Alpaca to create these products, including Shariah-compliant Instant Funding, which was launched recently.
The two entities are cooperating to deliver margin trading, options trading, and high-yield cash accounts, becoming one of the leading platforms to offer these products in a Shariah-compliant way.
Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and Co-Founder of Alpaca, stated: “We are grateful to be innovating with ZAD in the rapidly growing Islamic finance and are excited to be their partner in delivering Shariah-compliant margin trading, options trading, instant funding, and more. Shariah-compliance is a key focus at Alpaca as we look to support and expand financial accessibility globally.”
