PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of JS Income Fund

JS Income Fund (or the "Fund") is a medium-risk profile fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to preserve investor’s capital while providing a regular stream of current income on an annual basis which is higher than that offered by commercial banks on deposits of a similar liquidity profile as this Fund. The Fund operates a diverse portfolio of investment-grade debt securities, government securities and money market instruments. The assigned rating reflects the Fund's moderate credit and interest rate risk profile emanating from its investment strategy. At the end of Jun'23, the Fund had allocated ~59.11% of assets in AA and above rated Corporate Sukuk/TFCs. Moreover, the Fund had invested ~30.19% of the net assets in mainly A+ and above-rated banks, ~5% in PIBs and ~2.57% in T-Bills. Considerable holding in cash and bank balances strengthens the liquidity profile of the Fund. At the end of Jun'23, the WAM was 953 days; exposing the Fund to high credit risk while the duration was 47 days; limiting the exposure to interest rate risk. The credit risk is high due to investment in long-term securities such as Sukuk, PIBs, and T-Bills. The top 10 investor concentration of the Fund, at the end of Jun’23 was ~68.57%, giving rise to redemption pressure.
Going forward, any material changes in the Fund's asset allocation strategy, impacting its credit quality and/or exposure to interest rate risk, would affect the rating. Risk may vary slightly from time to time considering the volatility of economic conditions.

About the Entity
JS Investments Limited is the oldest private-sector Asset Management Company in Pakistan. The company was established in 1995 and is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The Company is part of the Jahangir Siddiqui (JS) Group. JS Bank Limited holds ~85% shareholding in the Company. JS Group has a strong presence in the financial sector with entities operating in banking, insurance, brokerage, and asset management sectors. The group has recently ventured into energy infrastructure and OMC segments. JS Investments possesses licenses for Asset Management Services, Investment Advisory, Private Equity, Venture Capital services and REIT management. The Company is headed by Ms. Iffat Zehra Mankani. She possess over 20 years of global experience in both public and private markets across multiple asset classes.
The Company’s board of directors comprises eight members including the Chief Executive Officer. The board is dominated by representatives of JS Bank Limited and Jahangir Siddiqui & Company Limited. The board has two independent directors while all the other directors are non-executive directors. The board members possess strong profile and skills suited to the financial services industry. Assets under management of the Company stood at ~PKR 36.2bln at end of Jun'23.