Elphinstone is the first company dedicated to offering access to the US market to Pakistani investors. Our product allows individuals who reside in Pakistan access to investing in the capital markets in the United States by allowing them to invest in US stocks and exchange trade funds (ETFs).

How does our product work? We allow individuals to operate their account in two ways: advised portfolios as well as self-directed investments.

For the advised portfolios, the company asks its users to specify their preference for conventional or Islamic modes of investing, with the latter then being restricted purely to investments that are compliant under Shariah investing principles (explained below).

Each client is presented with a sliding scale that represents the trade-off between risks and returns, and clients are advised that the longer the duration for which they are saving, the more capacity they have to take on risk, and the shorter the duration for which they are saving, the less capacity they have to take on risk.

The portfolios consist of two components: a fixed income component and an equity component.

For conventional portfolios, the equity portfolio consists of five low-cost equity index ETFs and the fixed income portfolio consists of five low-cost ETFs that track either short-dated US Treasuries or floating rate US Treasury securities. The more a customer wants to reduce their risk, the greater their exposure will be to US Treasuries, and the more they want to increase returns, the more their exposure will be increased towards equity indices.

For Islamic portfolios, the equity portfolio consists of all components of the S&P 500 index that comply with Shariah-compliance principals, as defined by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), weighted by market capitalization. The fixed income component consists of a fixed income ETF that invests in global sukuks (Islamic bonds). Once again, the more a customer wants to reduce their risk, the greater their exposure will be to the sukuk ETF, and the more they want to increase returns, the more their exposure will be increased towards equities.

How much would it cost me?

Investment advisory services for clients who wish to invest in US securities are currently subject to a fee of 1% of assets under management, calculated on a prorated basis per calendar day. For instance, in a non-leap year, the fees a client would pay would be calculated as follows:

Day end account balance 1/365 * 1%

During a leap year, the following formula would apply.

Day end account balance 1/366 * 1%

The fees are all-inclusive and would cover any brokerage fees, SEC, and FINRA fees associated with trades placed in the client account.

If you have $2,000 in your account on average throughout the year, your total annual fees would be just $20.