PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of Askari High Yield Scheme

Askari High Yield Scheme (“AHYS” or "the Fund”) is a moderate risk profile fund. The investment objective of the Fund is to provide investors with competitive returns from fixed income securities while maintaining a target portfolio duration of around six months. As of Dec’25, the Fund’s AUM stood at PKR 292mln, slightly lower than PKR 297mln recorded at the time of the last review, reflecting marginal net outflows during the period. As of Dec’25, the Fund’s asset allocation comprised ~42% in Cash, ~22% in TFCs, and ~36% in other instruments, reflecting a balanced allocation between liquidity and income-generating avenues. From a credit quality perspective, ~40% of investments were in A- rated avenues and ~22% in AA- rated instruments, with the remaining exposure in other rating categories, indicating moderate credit risk exposure. The Fund reported a very short duration of 15 days, limiting its exposure to interest rate volatility; however, the WAM of 485 days indicates relatively higher credit risk exposure compared to lower-duration peers. The Fund’s unit holding pattern remained highly concentrated, with the top 10 investors accounting for ~91% of total holdings as of end-Dec’25, of which ~40% represented associated companies, thereby exposing the Fund to moderate redemption pressure. In terms of performance, the Fund reported an annualized return of 6.12% as of Dec’25, which remained below the benchmark return of 10.98% and the peer average return of 11.71%, indicating relatively weaker performance compared to comparable funds.
Going forward, any material changes in the investment policy and/or compliance with the rating criteria for the assigned rating would have an impact on the ratings.

About the Entity
Pak Oman Asset Management Company Limited was incorporated on July 28, 2006, as a public unlisted company. It is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan to carry out asset management and investment advisory services under the Non-Banking Finance Companies Regulations. The company is a majority owned subsidiary of Pak Oman Investment Company Limited (99.46%). The remaining shareholders include Oman International Development and Investment Company, SAOG (0.54%). The company’s Board of Directors comprises six members including the managing director of Pak Oman Investment Company Limited, Mr. Nauman Ansari. The board’s chairman H.H. Sayyid Juland Jaifar Salim Al-Said has over 15 years of experience at the Oman Investment Authority (OIA) (Previously known as State General Reserve Fund). The company’s diverse product slate includes nine open end funds as of Dec'25 belonging to all major categories. The AUMs of the Company stood at ~PKR 8,621 mln at the end of Dec'25.