Analyst
Madiha Sohail
madiha.sohail@pacra.com
+92-42-35869504
www.pacra.com
Applicable Criteria
Related Research
PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of NIT Money Market Fund
Rating Type | Stability Rating | |
Current (01-Mar-24 ) |
Previous (01-Sep-23 ) |
|
Action | Maintain | Maintain |
Long Term | AAA(f) | AAA(f) |
Short Term | - | - |
Outlook | Stable | Stable |
Rating Watch | Yes | Yes |
NIT Money Market Fund (or the “Fund”) is low-risk profile fund. The objective of the Fund is to generate competitive returns with minimum risk for its unit holders by investing in low risk, liquid, short tenor fixed income securities/money market instruments. The AUMs of the Fund stood at PKR 35.14bln at the end of Dec’23 (Dec’22: PKR 21.73bln). The Fund had invested ~38.95% in T-Bills, ~4.08% in short-term sukuks, and ~5.11% in COI/LOP. Whereas ~51.19% of the cash had been placed in bank at the end Dec’23. The duration and the WAM of the Fund stood at 37 days, exposing the Fund to low-interest rate and credit risk at the end of Dec’23. The top ten investor concentration of the Fund stood at ~55.12% at the end of Dec'23. As per the assigned rating criteria, the Fund need to remain compliant to the specified criteria by investing minimum 75% in Govt/AAA rated avenues whereas maximum 25% in double AA+ and cannot invest below AA+. Considering the non-compliance from the respective criteria for the assigned rating, PACRA is keeping the Fund under surveillance and maintaining rating watch on the Fund.
Going forward, any material changes in the investment policy or the devised rating criteria for the assigned rating would have an impact on the ratings. Risk may vary slightly from time to time considering the volatility of economic conditions.
About
the Entity
National Investment Trust Limited was established in 1962 and is a pioneer in the mutual fund industry. The Company’s Board of Directors currently comprises eleven board members out of which ten are non-executive. Mr. Adnan Afridi, CEO/MD who joined in Feb'19 holds profound experience in the financial services and capital markets. Mr. Manzoor Ahmed is the COO and has a successful track record of managing the operations and investment portfolio of the Company. The Company is currently one of the largest asset management companies in Pakistan with a portfolio of sixteen open-end funds which includes two non-public funds namely NIT-SEF and NIT-EMOF, four voluntary pension schemes, and an exchange-traded fund. The assets under management of the Company stood at ~PKR 123.2bln at the end-Dec'23.