Iran Has 25 Retail Investment Apps and None Buys a Foreign Share
Sarwa, regulated in Abu Dhabi, crossed $1 billion in client assets in May 2026, held through Saxo in Denmark and, for trading, Alpaca. Across the 375 companies in the Tehran Index registry, 25 are retail investment apps: robo-savers, broker and fund apps, trading apps and gold platforms. Not one names a foreign security or a custodian outside Iran. The app layer exists; the custody chain stops at the border, and gold fills the gap.
- Across 375 tracked companies in 23 sectors, Tehran Index holds no record of an Iranian retail investment app that buys a foreign-listed share, bond or fund for its customer. The registry carries 25 retail investment records, 15 in wealth management, 8 selling gold and 2 retail brokerage apps, and none names a foreign security, fund or custodian in any description or public fact.
- At least nine of the wealth records state in their own words that they sell Iranian funds, Tehran-listed shares or portfolios run by an Iranian broker, portfolio manager or investment bank, among them MofidApp, Farabi Zone, Kian Digital, Firouzeh Digital and Azki Sarmayeh, which states it operates under the licence and supervision of the Securities and Exchange Organization.
- The closest Iranian equivalent of a Gulf robo-adviser is Baloot, which automates saving from accounts at 12 banks it names. The partners it names to hold the money are Saham Ashna portfolio management and Mehr Afarin brokerage, both licensed by the Securities and Exchange Organization. The mechanic is the same; the custody chain ends inside Iran.
- Sarwa, regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority, crossed US$1 billion in client assets by its announcement of 8 May 2026. Its own help page puts Sarwa Invest custody at Saxo Capital Markets in Denmark and Sarwa Trade execution with Alpaca, custodied at BMO Harris Bank. Every custody link named in the 25 Iranian records is Iranian, including Bank Kargoshaei for gold.
- Gold carries the gap. Eight records sell melted gold online, two state custody at Bank Kargoshaei, and the World Gold Council puts Iranian bar and coin demand at 34.0 tonnes across the four quarters from July 2025 to June 2026. The other world-priced route in the registry is crypto, which needs no custodian at all.
Sarwa, an Abu Dhabi investment app regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, announced on 8 May 2026 that it had crossed US$1 billion in client assets, a figure its own disclaimer defines as the fair value of all client holdings, including equities, options, cryptocurrencies and cash. It sells automated ETF portfolios through Sarwa Invest and trading in stocks and ETFs through Sarwa Trade.
What makes that product possible is written on Sarwa’s own help page, and it is a custody chain, not an app. Sarwa Invest cash and securities sit in a custodian account at Saxo Capital Markets, domiciled in Denmark and supervised by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and from there with custodians such as Citibank. Sarwa Trade orders execute through Alpaca, which uses BMO Harris Bank as custodian. The local transfers in between are held at Emirates NBD. Every named link but one sits outside the UAE.
Across 375 tracked companies in 23 sectors, Tehran Index holds no record of an Iranian retail investment app that buys a foreign-listed share, bond or fund for its customer.
What the record holds
The shelf is not empty. We carry 25 records across three retail investment subsectors: 15 in wealth management, 8 selling gold, and 2 retail brokerage apps. Not one of the 25 names a foreign security, a foreign fund or a custodian outside Iran in any description or fact we hold.
At least nine of the wealth records say in their own words that what they sell is Iranian. MofidApp subscribes and redeems Mofid funds and trades shares; Mofid Securities states 17 funds, read 15 September 2026. Farabi Zone is the portal of a group stating 10 investment funds and more than 950,000 billion rial under management, read 15 September 2026. Kian Digital sells Kian funds in gold, equities and fixed income. Ghol-le Damavand sells the funds of Tamin Sarmaye Damavand. IBShop sells investment funds and brokerage, and sits on the state e-commerce register under Tamin Sarmaye Tamadon. Firouzeh Digital runs funds, discretionary portfolios and brokerage through Firouzeh Asia Brokerage. Karizma sells gold and silver, funds and brokerage. Azki Sarmayeh states on its own homepage that it sells licensed fixed-income funds under the licence and supervision of the Securities and Exchange Organization, read 1 October 2026. None of these figures is converted, and none is a platform figure: each is the parent group’s own statement.
The closest thing in our records to Sarwa Invest is Baloot, and it differs in exactly one place. Baloot automates saving: it connects to a customer’s account at one of 12 banks it names and sweeps balances into investments, read 18 August 2026. That is the robo-adviser mechanic. But the partners it names to hold the money are Saham Ashna portfolio management and Mehr Afarin brokerage, both licensed by the Securities and Exchange Organization. The app is the same idea. The custody chain ends inside Iran.
The other half of the shelf is gold. Eight records sell melted gold online. Gold has a world price and a custody chain that can sit entirely inside Iran, and their own pages describe it: Daric states users’ assets are held at Bank Kargoshaei, read 20 August 2026; Technogold states customer gold is held at banks, part of it at Bank Kargoshaei, on the instruction of a working group at the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, read 2 September 2026. Technogold, Inviy, Daric and Zarpin each state physical delivery of bars. Gold also runs through the securities shelf: Kian Digital sells the Gohar gold fund, and Karizma sells gold on instalments.
The household market under those platforms is large. The World Gold Council puts Iranian bar and coin demand at 34.0 tonnes across the four quarters from July 2025 to June 2026 (11.4, 9.1, 7.3 and 6.2 tonnes), in Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026, published 30 July 2026. That is national demand, not the volume of the eight platforms, which none of them discloses.
Why the gap exists, structurally
The constraint is not the app layer. Iran builds that layer, and in numbers: our records hold a robo-saver, eight more broker and fund apps that describe what they sell, two trading apps and eight gold platforms. Kamandar describes itself as an app, not a brokerage: orders go to Firouzeh Asia Brokerage, registered with the Securities and Exchange Organization under number 10700, and from there to the market, read 25 September 2026. An app layer on a licensed broker is exactly how Sarwa Trade sits on Alpaca.
| Product | Custody or execution, in its own words | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Sarwa Invest | Saxo Capital Markets, Denmark; then custodians such as Citibank | Sarwa help page |
| Sarwa Trade | Alpaca as executing broker; BMO Harris Bank as custodian | Sarwa help page |
| Baloot | Saham Ashna portfolio management and Mehr Afarin brokerage, both licensed by the Securities and Exchange Organization | Baloot about page, read 18 August 2026 |
| Kamandar | Firouzeh Asia Brokerage, Securities and Exchange Organization number 10700 | Kamandar about page, read 25 September 2026 |
| Daric | Bank Kargoshaei | Daric site, read 20 August 2026 |
| Technogold | Banks, part of it at Bank Kargoshaei | Technogold site, read 2 September 2026 |
What differs is where the broker’s own custody chain ends. Sarwa’s chain runs to Denmark and to BMO Harris Bank. Every securities or gold custody link named in our 25 records is Iranian: an Iranian broker, an Iranian portfolio manager, an Iranian investment bank, or Bank Kargoshaei. A product can only offer what its last custodian can hold. So the shelf offers Tehran-listed shares, Iranian funds, and gold, the one world-priced asset with a custody chain that runs entirely inside the country.
That explains why gold carries so much of the shelf. A saver who wants a store of value priced outside the rial has, in our records, two routes. Gold, sold by eight platforms and held in an Iranian bank vault. Or crypto: two of the 15 wealth records, Binvest and Padin, sell crypto baskets, Binvest’s bought through the Tetherland exchange, and we carry 22 crypto records. That second route reaches a world-priced asset by needing no custodian at all. Both routes are the same constraint seen from two sides. Where a foreign holder’s capital goes when it tries to leave is the subject of our 20 August absence note on exits; this piece is the same border seen from a saver’s side.
What would have to be true
An Iranian broker or portfolio manager would need an account at a custodian outside Iran that will settle for it, and a licensed route for a saver’s rial to reach that account, because Sarwa’s own help page shows the custody chain, not the app, is the product.
The invitation, meant literally
This is a claim about the Tehran Index registry as it stood on 1 October 2026, not a claim about Iran. The registry carries technology companies, not every licensed broker: we do not claim to enumerate the Securities and Exchange Organization’s licensees. If an Iranian app buys a foreign-listed share, bond or ETF for a retail customer through a licensed custody chain, tell us and we will add the record and say where it came from. A counter-example is a company record we have just been handed, and that is worth more than this note.
Cite as: Tehran Index, “Iran Has 25 Retail Investment Apps and None Buys a Foreign Share”, 1 October 2026. Shelf counts, product scopes and custody links computed from the Tehran Index registry and facts layer, 1 October 2026, n=375 public companies in 23 sectors. Sarwa figures from its release of 8 May 2026 and its help page on custody. Gold demand from the World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026.
Frequently asked
Not through any company in the Tehran Index registry. As of 1 October 2026 the registry holds 25 retail investment apps among 375 tracked companies, and none names a foreign-listed share, bond or fund, or a custodian outside Iran, in any description or public fact. The products they describe are Iranian funds, Tehran-listed shares and gold. The claim is about the registry, which carries technology companies rather than every licensed broker, and a counter-example is welcome.
There is a robo-saver. Baloot automates saving from accounts at 12 banks it names and invests the balances through Saham Ashna portfolio management and Mehr Afarin brokerage, both licensed by the Securities and Exchange Organization, per its own about page read 18 August 2026. What it does not do is buy foreign assets: its named custody partners are Iranian.
Gold is the one asset with a world price whose custody chain can run entirely inside Iran. Eight records in the registry sell melted gold online, Daric states customer gold is held at Bank Kargoshaei and Technogold that part of it is, and Kian Digital and Karizma sell gold through funds and instalments. The World Gold Council puts Iranian bar and coin demand at 34.0 tonnes from July 2025 to June 2026.
The app layer is comparable; the custody chain is not. Sarwa announced US$1 billion in client assets on 8 May 2026, with Sarwa Invest held at Saxo Capital Markets in Denmark and Sarwa Trade executed through Alpaca. In the Iranian records, Kamandar sits on Firouzeh Asia Brokerage the way Sarwa Trade sits on Alpaca, but every custodian named is Iranian, so the shelf offers Tehran-listed shares, Iranian funds and gold.
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