Barakah Wealth

Context & background

Barakah Wealth was conceived to address a growing gap in the UAE’s Islamic finance ecosystem: a large population of young, digitally savvy Muslims who want to invest ethically but are excluded by high minimums, limited financial literacy, and lack of trust in existing products.

While the UAE is one of the world’s largest Islamic finance hubs, most wealth management offerings are designed for high-net-worth individuals, with minimum investments ranging from AED 50,000 to AED 250,000. This leaves a significant segment of salaried millennials—capable of saving consistently but unable to access structured investing—underserved.

At the same time, research showed that many potential users were unsure how Shariah-compliant investing actually works, leading to hesitation, inactivity, or reliance on informal savings methods.

Problem Statement

UAE millennials with investable income lacked access to trustworthy, Shariah-compliant wealth management solutions that matched their financial reality and religious values.

Existing products presented three major challenges:
• High entry barriers that excluded users with smaller but consistent savings
• Low transparency around Shariah compliance and screening standards
• A mismatch between how products framed investing (risk profiles) and how users thought about money (life goals)

As a result, a large segment of financially capable users remained uninvested, leaving savings idle and missing opportunities for long-term wealth creation aligned with their beliefs.

The core strategy was to democratize Islamic investing by combining automation, strict Shariah compliance, and goal-based design—without overwhelming users with financial complexity.

Instead of positioning the product as a traditional robo-advisor, Barakah Wealth reframed investing around Islamic life goals such as Hajj, marriage, and home ownership. This made the value proposition immediately relatable and emotionally resonant.

At the same time, the platform adopted AAOIFI-compliant screening standards, prioritizing trust and religious authenticity over maximizing the investable universe or short-term returns.

Key Decisions & Trade-offs

1. Accessibility over high account balances
Trade-off: Lower initial AUM per user, but significantly larger addressable market.

2. Conservative Shariah standards over flexible interpretations
Trade-off: Fewer investable assets, but stronger trust with religiously conscious users.

3. Automation with human oversight, not full automation
Trade-off: Slightly higher operational complexity, but increased user confidence and adoption.

Solution Overview

Barakah Wealth is a mobile-first, Shariah-compliant wealth management platform designed to make long-term investing accessible, trustworthy, and culturally aligned for Muslim millennials in the UAE.

The product combines automated portfolio management with goal-based investing, allowing users to start with as little as AED 500 while remaining confident that their wealth growth adheres to Islamic principles.

Rather than positioning investing around abstract risk scores, Barakah Wealth reframes the experience around meaningful life goals—such as Hajj, home ownership, education, and financial security—making long-term participation more intuitive for first-time investors.

To support this, the platform integrates conservative Shariah screening, transparent portfolio construction, and built-in tools like Zakat calculation and financial education, ensuring users can manage their wealth holistically in one place.

The following screens highlight how these principles translate into real product decisions and user experience.

Core Capabilities Delivered

1. Goal-Based Investing

• •Users invest toward specific Islamic life goals rather than abstract risk profiles
• •Time horizons automatically inform portfolio allocation

2. Shariah-Compliant Portfolio Construction

• •Portfolios built using Sukuk, Shariah-compliant equities, and halal asset classes
• •AAOIFI-based screening ensures conservative compliance

3. Automated Portfolio Management

• •Diversification, rebalancing, and gradual de-risking handled automatically
• •Designed for users with limited financial expertise

4. Transparency & Education

• •Clear explanations of why assets are considered halal
• •Focus on building long-term trust, not just returns

Key takeaways

1. This project reinforced that in high-trust domains like fintech, credibility and transparency matter as much as product functionality.
2. One key insight was that users cared less about maximizing returns and more about certainty—certainty that their money aligned with their beliefs and life goals.
3. Another important learning was that framing matters. Shifting from “investment risk” to “life goals” significantly improved clarity, motivation, and user confidence, especially for first-time investors.
4. Finally, the project highlighted the importance of designing products that respect both cultural and financial contexts, rather than applying generic fintech patterns.