Sarwa review: ADGM licence, Sarwa Trade fees and account minimums

Overview

Sarwa is an investment app run by a company in Abu Dhabi Global Market, with three products: Sarwa Trade for buying US stocks, ETFs and crypto yourself, Sarwa Invest for ready-made ETF portfolios, and Sarwa Save, a cash account offered through banking partners (Sarwa says it is not a bank). All facts below come from Sarwa’s own pages and the ADGM public register, checked on 18 October 2026.

Licence

Sarwa Digital Wealth (Capital) Limited is regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market. Sarwa describes a Category 3C licence with a Retail Client endorsement and an endorsement to hold and control client investments and money. The site does not print a licence number but links its register entry: the ADGM register shows FSP number 190037, granted on 20 February 2020, status “Active”, with permissions to manage assets, advise on investments and arrange deals.

An earlier company, Sarwa Digital Wealth Limited, was regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority until 14 June 2024; it no longer holds that licence.

Sarwa says it does not hold an FSRA Islamic Window endorsement and is not authorised to advise on Islamic finance, although it offers “Halal” portfolios.

Sarwa Trade

Sarwa Trade is self-directed: Sarwa gives no advice to Trade clients. You get US-listed stocks and ETFs, as whole or fractional shares. The trade page speaks of “10,000+” stocks and ETFs, the pricing page of “4,000+”.

• Commission: “$1 minimum or 0.25% of trade value”.
• Minimum: “$500 account minimum”.
• No fee per share, for withdrawals, for inactivity, for custody, or for opening or closing the account.
• Currency exchange: Sarwa only promises “competitive FX rates” and publishes no figure.

Sarwa adds that it may receive commission payments from its broker partners, without naming them on the pages we read.

Sarwa Invest

Sarwa Invest builds portfolios of ETFs. Minimum balances: $500 for Conventional and Halal portfolios, $2,500 for Socially Responsible and Crypto portfolios. Under $100,000 the management fee is 0.85% a year with a minimum of $7 a month; the pricing page gives a range of 0.4% to 0.85% a year.

Deposits and withdrawals

Sarwa says you can deposit and withdraw “at zero cost with free AED transfers in the UAE”, meaning transfers from a local UAE bank account. It also mentions instant deposits without naming the method. Other payment methods, transfer times and the countries Sarwa accepts are explained in its help centre, which showed a bot check to our browser, so we leave them out.

What we could not confirm

• Which broker executes and holds Sarwa Trade investments, and whether any investor compensation scheme applies.
• Which countries’ residents Sarwa accepts.
• Payment methods other than local UAE bank transfers, and any currency conversion fee.

We have not tested Sarwa with our own account yet; this review will be updated when we do.