Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (Pacra) has upgraded the stability rating to 'AA-(F)' (Double A Minus - Fund Rating) - previous rating: "A+(f)" (Single A Plus - Fund Rating) - of Askari Islamic Income Fund (AIIF), an open-end Shariah compliant income fund. The rating denotes a very strong capacity to manage relative stability in returns and very low exposure to risks.
The investment objective of the fund is to earn a reasonable rate of return by investing in Shariah-compliant income avenues having good quality and liquidity. The rating reflects good credit quality of the fund's assets and a strong liquidity profile. The very low credit risk and strong liquidity profile emanates from its portfolio mix, majorly invested in government-issued Ijarah Sukuks (50 percent) with a significant portion of assets comprising daily cash balances with Islamic banks having a minimum credit rating of 'AA'.
Lately, fund size has significantly increased at a high concentration in unit holding pattern, indicating vulnerability to redemption pressure. However, comfort could be drawn from significant holding of the parent in the form of seed capital. Going forward, the fund intends to remain 50 percent invested in government-issued sukuks, and 30 percent in AA and above rated Islamic banks. This enhances its credit quality with limited exposure to corporate sukuks.-PR
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.