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The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited
Press Release

Date
09-Mar-23

Analyst
Madiha Sohail
madiha.sohail@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 MCB Pakistan Sovereign Fund

Rating Type Stability Rating
Current
(09-Mar-23 )
Previous
(09-Sep-22 )
Action Maintain Maintain
Long Term AA-(f) AA-(f)
Short Term - -
Outlook Stable Stable
Rating Watch - -

MCB Pakistan Sovereign Fund (or the ‘Fund’) is a medium risk-profile fund. The assigned rating reflects the strong strength of the Fund's credit risk profile and moderate strength of the interest rate risk profile. At end-Dec'22, largely the portfolio was invested in Government Securities with 94.9%, 2% in Cash at Banks while remaining was invested in others. The Fund’s weighted average to maturity was 3 years at end-Dec’22 mainly due to investments in government securities. However, the Duration stood at 33 days shielding the Fund against interest rate risks. The unit holding pattern of the Fund is moderately concentrated with top ten investors representing 54.8% of the Fund's assets, which exposes the Fund to a moderate level of redemption pressure.
Going forward, the Fund intends to maintain its asset allocation in government securities and banks, however, the allocations may be changed based on market circumstances. 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
MCB-Arif Habib Limited Savings and Investments Limited (MCB-AH or the "Company") is a Public Listed Company, regulated by the SECP. MCB-AH holds licenses for Asset Management, Investment Advisory, and Pension Fund Management. MCB-AH caters to both conventional and Shariah-compliant clientele and is currently managing a diverse product slate of eighteen open-end funds and two voluntary pension schemes. MCB-AH is also managing one of the largest AUMs under the SMA segment and holds a significant position in the investment advisory domain.
The major shareholders of MCB-AH are MCB Bank Limited ~51%, Arif Habib Corporation Limited ~30%, and Adamjee Insurance Company Limited ~8%. The general public holds the remaining ~11% of the shares. Mr. Saqib Saleem is the CEO of the company. MCB-AH's control vests in an eight-member board of directors, including the CEO. There are four non-executive directors, while three directors are independent. The AUMs (CIS & VPS) of MCB-AH increased to PKR 160bln at end-Dec'22 (Jun'22: PKR 122bln).

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.