The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has assigned a 5-Star fund rating to Meezan Balanced Fund (Category: Islamic Fund), which reflects a superior performance relative to its peers. The rating is a composite measure of two factors namely a) returns, and b) risk associated with the returns measured by Sharpe Ratio.

About the fund: MBF, a close-end scheme, was established under a Trust Deed executed in June 2004 between Al Meezan Investment Management Limited as management company and, Central Depository Company of Pakistan Limited (CDC) as trustee. The primary objective of MBF is to provide the maximum total return to the certificate holders from investment in shariah compliant investments for the given level of risk.

About the Asset Manager: Incorporated in February 1995, Al Meezan Investment Management Limited (AMIM) is a subsidiary (65% shareholding) of Meezan Bank Limited (MBL), the first scheduled Islamic commercial bank in the country, which operates strictly under the principles of Islamic Shariah. The main sponsors of the bank are some leading financial institutions based in Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia including Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company (Pvt) Limited (PKIC), which also owns 30% shareholding in AMIM.

The Chief Executive of AMIM, Mr. Mohammad Shoaib, is a CFA Charter holder and also has Masters degree in Business Administration with over 16 years of experience in the capital markets. The Head of Investments is an MBA with extensive experience of more than 10 years in the financial sector of the country.

AMIM is catering to different investment objectives of a diverse client base. Currently, the company is managing three funds with assets under management of over PKR 6.5bln as at end May 06. AMIM, in addition to MBF, manages another closed-end fund namely Al Meezan Mutual Fund Limited and an open-end fund namely Meezan Islamic Fund.