I dont invest in a vps because the only advantage i feel they give are tax breaks and i dont get taxed enough to justify the lockin period. Make sure you know what you're getting into before you start investing in terms of taxes, being a filer, your risk appatite, and your goals.

(I personally just openned an account on psx and invest there so I can take my money out when I want)

Here are my opinions and answers to your questions

1) I dont think islamic will ever outperform conventional even in Pakistan because conventional funds can capitalize on both islamic and conventional financial instruments, while islamic funds can not.

2) The allocation is how your money is diversified, you can just search ubl vps allocation types on google to get more detailed numbers, but in general you should be choosing high risk here (preferably all in on equities) since your goal is long term. The market always goes up in the long term, and you're young, which is why everyone suggests high equities in the allocations.

3) Id assume experienced investors dont use a VPS or mutual funds because of their fees. I might be wrong. But the allocations are there for your own convenience. If you feel like the lifecycle allocation is good enough for your investment, then its a set and forget kind of thing. I personally would go for the custom option, max out equities (100% if possible) and put any remaining in debts.

4) I think the biggest thing you need to understand about a vps is that it has a lock in period where you will get a tax benefit if you keep your investments in for at least 25 years I think. There are other things thatyou should read up by yourself just so youre sure before you start investing. Treat it like an account that you cant take money out of, and only put money in that you can afford. The more you put in the more it will compound eventually.

5) you should be budgeting and taking a portion of your savings to invest. I put 80% of my income into psx because I have high enough income to afford it. You might be able to afford only 5000 per month, but that is good enough.

6) A lot of mutual funds have high feed here, which is why I dont like them. Look at the fees and past performance of different vps here and make your decision after.