The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited
09-Mar-23
Analyst
Wajeeha Asghar
wajeeha.asghar@pacra.com
+92-42-35869504
www.pacra.com
Applicable Criteria
Related Research
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PACRA Maintains Stability Rating of NIT Government Bond 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 | - | - |
NIT Government Bond Fund (or the 'Fund') is a medium risk profile Fund. The assigned rating reflects the Fund's moderate credit risk profile emanating from Fund's Investment policy to invest in avenues with sound liquidity. The Fund had invested ~35% in PIBs, ~34.4% in T-Bills whereas ~29.1% in cash majority in Soneri Bank rated AA- and ~1.5% in others. The duration of the Fund stood at 36 days at the end Dec’22, limiting the exposure interest rate risk. While the WAM of the Fund stood at 224 days at the end Dec’22, exposing the Fund to high credit risk. However, major investment in Govt securities is providing comfort to the assigned rating. The unit holding pattern of the Fund stood at 82.3%, representing top ten investor concentration. The Fund would remain exposed to redemption pressure. The Fund remained compliant with the given criteria of assigned rating by investing minimum 25% in Govt/AAA rated avenues and maximum 25% in double AA- rated avenues.
Going forward, any material changes in the investment policy would remain imperative. While compliance with the devised rating criteria for the assigned rating would remain critical.
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 eleven board members out of which ten 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 fourteen 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 95.4bln (including SEF & EMOF) end-Dec'22