Hejaz launches first Islamic pension product

Hejaz Group has announced Hejaz Islamic Super and Pension, the first Islamic account-based pension product directly offered to Australians.

Through a streamlined application process, three investment options will be offered to consumers: growth, balanced, and conservative. 

Previously, the group offered access to its sharia-compliant superannuation products as advised products only. Its online member portal will now enable users to apply and be onboarded within a couple of minutes. 

Alongside their recent $10 million strategic investment in Islamic Bank Australia, Hejaz Group’s new product launch reflected its plans to provide an end-to-end wealth service to all Australian Muslims and non-Muslims with similar values. 

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Muzzammil Dhedhy, chief operations officer at Hejaz Group, acknowledged the gap in the market when developing the super product. 

“Superannuation is fundamental to ensuring a comfortable retirement, but we realised that there wasn’t a Sharia account-based pension fund available to Australian Muslims,” he explained.

“This can be particularly frustrating for large organisations that want to do the right thing and make sure all of their employees have access to ethical superannuation options.”

Many customers already expressed interest in a new direct-to-consumer pension offer, with 120 members on average joining Hejaz’s existing super products via advisers per month.

Dhedhy added: “We’ve made it easy and hassle-free to set up an Islamic super account and account-based pension that aligns with members’ beliefs and values. We emphasise the importance of not disadvantaging those who choose to align their investments with their faith and values.”

Equity Trustees will be trustee for the new offering, alongside Acclaim Management Group as administrator and AIA Australia Limited as the insurer.

Andrew Godfrey, executive general manager of the superannuation trustees services business at Equip Trustees, was pleased to offer their expertise in the product’s launch.

“It’s clear the Hejaz team is committed to developing innovative, faith-based customer-led financial solutions and they have created the Hejaz Super and Pension offer to meet a need in the Australian Muslim community,” he said. 

Hejaz currently holds $1.3 billion in funds under management and advice. It utilises Islamic finance knowledge to offer sharia-compliant services to Muslim and non-Muslim clients. 

This includes ethical investment in products, companies, and industries that parallel Islamic beliefs. All investments undergo compulsory ethical screening using rules set by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) to be classed as sharia-compliant.