In 2018, the company running New Zealand's only Shariah-compliant KiwiSaver sued the Financial Markets Authority, with directors seeking about NZD 2 million in damages. Most fund managers' histories do not include litigating against their own regulator, and most reviews of the AE KiwiSaver Plan skip the episode entirely. We think members and prospective members should have the whole record, because the company's history explains both its strengths, an unusual disclosure culture, and the cautions that belong in any honest assessment.
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The founding years: 2013 to 2016
Amanah Trust Management (NZ) Limited was incorporated on 29 July 2013, founded by Brian Henry, a barrister with more than 45 years at the bar. Its first product, the AmanahNZ unit trust, launched on 1 September 2013, investing in up to 50 US-listed stocks under what is now called the Strict Ethical Mandate. The KiwiSaver scheme registered on 15 January 2014 with registration number 10076 and accepted its first members on 24 March 2014, making it New Zealand's first and still only Shariah-compliant KiwiSaver. The FMA granted the firm its managed investment scheme manager licence on 7 November 2016, and that licence has remained active continuously ever since.
The FMA dispute: 2017 to 2018
In November 2017 the FMA determined that the manager had stopped managing investments during a period when directors held existing investments and accumulated contributions in cash pending a capital raising. The regulator restricted the firm from marketing and required FMA permission before processing new KiwiSaver applications. In 2018 the firm responded by suing the FMA, alleging failures of natural justice in how the supervision decisions were made, with directors seeking about NZD 2 million in damages according to Stuff's reporting at the time. No public record of the outcome exists. What the record does show: the licence was never suspended or revoked, the scheme operated without interruption throughout, and no member losses from the episode were ever alleged.
How to weigh it is genuinely arguable, so we give you both readings. The unfavourable one: a regulator formally found the manager had stopped doing its core job during a capital raising, which is serious however it ended. The favourable one: the events are nearly a decade old, the firm's response was to fight openly in court rather than quietly settle, and the years since show a documented compliance culture, an annual external SAE 3100 assurance report, full document publication, quantified purification, that exceeds most peers. Both readings are fair. Omitting the episode, as most coverage does, is not.
The rebrand and the modern company
On 30 September 2021 the company renamed itself Always-Ethical Limited, with the Amanah KiwiSaver Plan becoming the AE KiwiSaver Plan and AmanahNZ becoming AE Investor. Today's board includes founder Brian Henry, chair Gregory Fortuin, Prof Faruk Balli of Massey University, a PhD economist formerly with the Central Bank of Qatar who also sits on the AE Advisory Board, Dr Anwar-Ul Ghani MNZM, and Dennis Jay Gates. One ambition from the early years never materialised: Henry told RNZ in 2015 the firm aimed to launch Islamic home loans, a gap in the market that remains unfilled by anyone, as the home financing pages document.
A disambiguation worth making: Amanah Islamic Finance, the Melbourne-based Australian home financier, is a completely unrelated company that has never operated in New Zealand. The shared name causes real community confusion.
What the history means for your money
- Your assets are not held by the manager: supervisor Trustees Executors Limited and custodian Apex Investment Administration (NZ) Ltd are independent, the structural protection that matters most if a manager ever stumbles
- The disclosure culture is real and verifiable: PDS, SIPO, trust deed, fund updates, financial statements and the SAE 3100 assurance report are all published
- The 2017-18 episode belongs in the cons column of any review, ours included, alongside fees and concentration, not buried and not exaggerated
The timeline at a glance
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 29 July 2013 | Amanah Trust Management (NZ) Limited incorporated by Brian Henry |
| 1 September 2013 | AmanahNZ unit trust (now AE Investor) begins operating |
| 15 January 2014 | KiwiSaver scheme registered (number 10076) |
| 24 March 2014 | First KiwiSaver members accepted |
| 7 November 2016 | FMA grants the MIS manager licence (FSP312967) |
| November 2017 | FMA determines the manager had stopped managing investments; marketing restricted |
| 2018 | The firm sues the FMA alleging natural justice failures; about NZD 2M sought |
| 30 September 2021 | Company renamed Always-Ethical Limited; products rebranded to AE |
| 8 May 2026 | Current KiwiSaver PDS issued: 3.16% estimated charges plus NZD 32.40 |
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Reading the timeline as a member, the pattern worth noticing is continuity: through the dispute, the lawsuit and the rebrand, the licence stayed active, the scheme kept operating, and the products kept reporting. Reading it as an analyst, the other pattern is concentration: this remains a founder-shaped boutique where board composition, committee discretion and corporate memory all run through a small group of named people, which is simultaneously why it exists at all, nobody else bothered to build a halal KiwiSaver, and why governance disclosures deserve continued attention. Both readings fit the same facts, which is usually the sign you have the facts right.
Twelve years in, the honest summary is a boutique that survived a regulator fight, rebranded, and built the most transparent religious compliance stack in the country, while charging monopoly prices for it. Read the full product review and the fee analysis with this history in mind, and check the provider's standing on the Halal Money Index.