PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of NIT Government Bond Fund

NIT Government Bond Fund ("NIT-GBF" or "the Fund") is a medium-risk fixed income solution designed to optimize returns through strategic allocation to Pakistan's government securities while maintaining disciplined risk parameters. The Fund's rapid growth to PKR 18.83 billion AUM as of December 2024 (from PKR 3.55 billion in June 2024) reflects strong investor confidence in its government-focused strategy. In terms of asset class, 71.09% of assets were allocated to Treasury Bills, 20.39% to Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs), and 7.7% to bank placements, demonstrating a balanced approach across Pakistan's yield curve. From a perspective of credit quality metric, 92.2% was invested in Government/AAA-rated instruments and 4.7% in AA- rated avenues. The Fund's weighted average maturity (WAM) of 438 days as of December 2024 indicates active positioning along the yield curve to capture higher yields. While this exposes the portfolio to interest rate risk, the overwhelming government securities allocation (91.48% combined T-Bills and PIBs) provides fundamental credit protection and reduces default risk probability.
Going forward, any material changes in the investment policy or the devised rating criteria for the assigned rating would have an impact on 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 fifteen board members. Mr. Manzoor Ahmed, assumed charge of the post of Managing Director (Acting), National Investment Trust Limited on February 14, 2025. Being, COO, he has been successfully managing the operations and investment portfolio worth over PKR 213 billion. He has experience of over 33 years of the Mutual Fund industry and has been placed at many key positions within NIT that includes capital market operations, investment management, product development, research and liaising with the regulatory authorities. The Company is currently one of the largest asset management companies in Pakistan with a portfolio of sixteen open-end funds which includes two non-public funds namely NIT-SEF and NIT-EMOF, two voluntary pension schemes, two employer pension scheme and an exchange-traded fund. The assets under management of the Company stood at ~PKR 217,860mln at the end of Dec'24.