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The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited
Press Release

Date
06-Sep-24

Analyst
Hassaan Ahmad
Hassaan.Ahmad@pacra.com
+92-42-35869504
www.pacra.com

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This press release is being transmitted for the sole purpose of dissemination through print/electronic media. The press release may be used in full or in part without changing the meaning or context thereof with due credit to PACRA

PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of NIT Islamic Income Fund

Rating Type Stability Rating
Current
(06-Sep-24 )
Previous
(08-Mar-24 )
Action Maintain Maintain
Long Term AA-(f) AA-(f)
Short Term - -
Outlook Stable Stable
Rating Watch - -

NIT Islamic Income Fund (or the “Fund”) is a low risk profile Fund. The Fund's objective is to generate a stable Shariah compliant income stream, while seeking maximum possible preservation of capital, over the medium to long-term period, by investing in a diversified portfolio of Shariah Compliant fixed income and money market instruments. The assigned rating reflects the Fund's moderate credit risk profile emanating from Fund's Investment policy to invest in avenues with sound liquidity. The AUMs of the Fund stood at PKR 1.63bln at the end of Jun'24 (Jun’23: PKR 827mln). The credit quality of the Fund comprises of ~30.7% in AA rated avenues ~28.9% in A rated ~21.5% in Govt/AAA , ~21.2% in A, ~14.6% in GOP Ijara sukuk, whereas the rest was invested in others at the end of Jun'24. The Fund had allocated , ~42.3% in cash, ~38.8% in Corporate Sukuk, ~14.6% in GOP Ijarah Sukuks and ~4.3% in others at the end of Jun'24. The WAM of the Fund stood at 112 days at the end of Jun'24, exposing moderate credit risk. The duration of the Fund stood at 61 days at the end of Jun'24, exposing low interest rate risk. The unit holding pattern of the fund stood at ~51.80% representing top ten investor concentration, depicting high redemption pressure. Redemption pressure is addressed through maintenance of sufficient liquidity.
Going forward, any material changes in the investment policy or the devised rating criteria for the assigned rating would have an impact on the rating.

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 141.4bln at the end of Jun'24.

The primary function of PACRA is to evaluate the capacity and willingness of an entity to honor its obligations. Our ratings reflect an independent, professional and impartial assessment of the risks associated with a particular instrument or an entity. PACRA's comprehensive offerings include instrument and entity credit ratings, insurer financial strength ratings, fund ratings, asset manager ratings and real estate gradings. PACRA opinion is not a recommendation to purchase, sell or hold a security, in as much as it does not comment on the security's market price or suitability for a particular investor.