Analyst
Muhammad Junaid
muhammad.junaid@pacra.com
+92-42-35869504
www.pacra.com
Applicable Criteria
Related Research
PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of NIT Islamic Income Fund
Rating Type | Stability Rating | |
Current (10-Sep-21 ) |
Previous (10-Mar-21 ) |
|
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 medium-risk profile fund. The rating reflects the risk profile of the Fund with considerable holding of cash and bank balances which reinforce the liquidity profile. The Fund aims to maintain a diversified portfolio to generate superior risk-adjusted returns and would invest in various instruments of varying maturities depending on the yields available, after adjusting for risk levels. The maximum weighted average time to maturity of the Fund will be 4 years. At end Jun'21, ~55% of the Fund's assets were placed with an AAA-rated bank, which gives rise to concentration risk. Whereas, ~23% of Funds were allocated to sukuks primarily rated 'AA' and above and ~22% of funds were allocated to GoP Ijara Sukuk. The Fund has a WAM of 693 days, which exposes it to high interest risk. The unit holding pattern of the Fund is concentrated with the top ten investors representing ~56% of the Fund's assets, out of which ~20% are owned investments which provide a cushion against the redemption pressure.
Going forward, the Fund is expected to maintain its current strategy to remain in high rated banks and sukuks. Material changes in the Fund's asset allocation strategy, impacting its credit quality and/or exposure to interest rate risk, would affect 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 ten board members out of which nine 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 twelve open-end funds which includes two non-public funds namely NIT-SEF and NIT-EMOF, two voluntary pension schemes, and an exchange-traded fund. The assets under management of the Company stood at ~PKR 99,986mln (including SEF & EMOF) end-Jun'21.