PACRA Maintains the Stability Rating of ABL Financial Sector Fund

ABL Financial Sector Fund ("ABL-FSF" or "the Fund") is categorized under a medium-risk profile, with the objective of providing income enhancement and preservation of capital through investment in prime quality financial sector TFCs/Sukuks, bank deposits, spread transactions, and short-term money market instruments. The Fund's strategy focuses on generating competitive income returns through selective exposure across the financial sector credit spectrum. As of Jun'26, the Fund's Assets Under Management (AUM) stood at PKR 40,853mln, compared to PKR 50,618mln as of the last review, reflecting a contraction in fund size during the review period. In terms of asset allocation, approximately 96% of the portfolio was invested in cash, ~2% in Treasury Bills, ~1% in commercial paper, and ~0.3% in PIBs, reflecting a near-exclusively liquid portfolio positioning consistent with the Fund's capital preservation and income enhancement mandate. From a credit quality perspective, approximately 25% of the Fund's assets were invested in Government Securities and AAA rated instruments, ~74% in A+ rated instruments, and ~1.4% in AA- rated instruments, with the remainder in other exposures. The overall credit profile is considered sound, commensurate with the Fund's medium-risk mandate. The Fund's Weighted Average Maturity (WAM) stood at 8 days as of Jun'26, reflecting negligible sensitivity to interest rate movements and reinforcing the Fund's strong liquidity position, consistent with its capital preservation objective. Meanwhile, the unit holding pattern indicates a low degree of concentration, with the top 10 investors accounting for only ~24% of the Fund's total holdings. This well-diversified and broad-based investor composition, combined with the Fund's near-exclusively cash-based portfolio and ultra-short WAM profile, provides strong comfort regarding the Fund's ability to meet any potential redemption requirements swiftly and without undue pressure on the portfolio. In terms of performance, the Fund delivered a one-year return of 10.47% as of Jun'26, against a benchmark return of 10.61%, reflecting a marginal underperformance of approximately 14 basis points.
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 rating.

About the Entity
Incorporated in 2007, ABL AMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Bank Limited (ABL). ABL operates with 1,400 plus branches including 117 Islamic banking branches, 8 Digital/ Self Service branches & 2 overseas branches. ABL AMC possesses licenses for asset management, pension management and investment advisory services. As the leading private sector asset management and investment advisory Company in Pakistan, offerings include a comprehensive range of both Conventional and Shariah Compliant investment solutions across all major asset classes. Assets under management of the Company stood at ~PKR 306bln at the end of Jun'26.