Zurich Workplace Solutions (DEWS) Review - Halal Finance Products

Zurich Workplace Solutions (Middle East) Limited is the administrator of DEWS, the DIFC Employee Workplace Savings plan introduced in February 2020 when the DIFC replaced its end-of-service gratuity regime with funded, trust-based workplace savings. The company is incorporated in the DIFC (registration 3595) and regulated by the DFSA (reference F005650). The plan's architecture separates roles deliberately: Equiom acts as master trustee and independent legal owner of contributions, Zurich administers accounts and the member portal, and Mercer advises on the investment menu. Employer contributions are statutory: 5.83% of basic salary for employees with under five years' service and 8.33% above, with voluntary employee contributions on top. UAE and GCC nationals covered by GPSSA are excluded from mandatory enrolment but may join voluntarily.

The Sharia-compliant menu, confirmed in the March 2026 charges summary and fund factsheets crawled 2026-08-05, has four options: the Emirates Islamic Money Market Fund (Emirates NBD Asset Management; Murabaha and Wakala instruments; February 2026 monthly return 0.29%, one-year 4.18% per factsheet), the Franklin Global Sukuk Fund, the HSBC Islamic Global Equity Index Fund, and an Islamic Mudarabah option whose factsheet sits behind the member portal. Members switch between funds free of charge via the DEWS portal, and death benefits can be distributed in accordance with Sharia law on request.

Charges are published with unusual precision. Every member pays fixed layers of 0.20% p.a. to Equiom as trustee, 0.80% to Zurich as administrator and 0.23% for Mercer's investment advice. On top sit investment management fees of 0.20% (Emirates NBD AM money market), 0.45% (Franklin Templeton sukuk) or 0.30% (HSBC Islamic equity), plus additional fund expenses of 0.05%, 0.20% (capped) and 0.26% respectively. The all-in result runs from roughly 1.26% p.a. for the Islamic money market option to 1.79% for the Islamic global equity option. A detail worth underlining: HSBC's fund caps operating expenses at 0.25% but expressly excludes Sharia purification costs from that cap, which is rare, concrete evidence that purification is budgeted and performed rather than merely promised.

The plan's weakness for a Muslim member is the default. Contributions land in the conventional Low/Moderate Growth fund unless the member actively elects otherwise, so compliance is opt-in rather than opt-out. There is also no plan-level Shariah board: governance rests on the underlying managers, Emirates NBD's Internal Shari'a Supervision Committee for the money market fund and Franklin Templeton's and HSBC's respective fund-level arrangements. That is a defensible model, but it means the plan itself never certifies anything, and members should understand the distinction.

In the wider UAE market, DEWS matters beyond the DIFC because it set the template for funded end-of-service schemes: published fees, independent trust, daily-priced funds. Mainland employers seeking the same outcome for Muslim staff compare it against National Bonds' Golden Pension (negotiated fees, single Mudarabah pool) and the SCA/MOHRE alternative EOSB scheme funds. For the employee, the practical takeaway is one sentence: if you are Muslim and work in the DIFC, log into the DEWS portal in your first week and switch to the Sharia menu, because nobody will do it for you.