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[AbDuLmAtEeNkHaN]

Mutual funds assets surge to Rs 300 billion

ERUM ZAIDI
KARACHI - The net assets of the mutual funds industry in both open and closed end funds has jumped to Rs 300 billion during the previous fiscal year.
The total numbers of open-end funds have reached 48. Out of these 48 open-end funds, Askari Asset Allocation Fund is in the Pre-IPO stage, and its units have not yet been offered to the public. The open-end equity funds, including NIT hold Rs 112.80 billion comprising of approximately 45.34 per cent of the total assets under management of open end schemes. Total number of pure equity funds is ten. Second most popular category is of income funds.
In the Income funds category, there are a total of fifteen funds. They collectively hold approximately PRs94.14bn in net assets, which constitutes 37.84 per cent of total open-end funds industry size.
The Atlas Capital Inbest’s bulletin has disclosed that the funds under management of open ended schemes showed a marked increase of 15.12 percent month on month during June 2007 and reached 248.78bn at the close of fiscal year 2007.
Funds under management of NIT (public sector equity fund) touched Rs 100.96bn, making it the Pakistan’s first fund to cross the 100bn mark. NIT’s share of the total mutual funds industry now stands at 40.58 per cent of total open-end funds.
The break-up of assets under management between open and closed end funds as at June 30, 2007 stood at 83 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.
Three new funds were launched during the month of June 2007. Dawood Islamic Fund, launched during the month of July 2007, took the number of open end Islamic Funds to seven. Dawood Islamic Fund is an Islamic asset allocation fund, which will invest in a variety of Shariah compliant instruments to generate an optimum return for its unit holders.
JS ABAMCO Limited has launched another capital protected fund during the month of July 2007, third in its series of capital protected funds. The fund has tenure of 18 months and six weeks. The fund guarantees 100 per cent capital protection through Standard Chartered Bank.
Report revealed that the net asset value of the fund appreciated to PRs9, 379.36 per unit as at 30th June 2007, thus generating a return of 28.28 per cent during the fiscal year 2007 for its unit holders. The customized benchmark index of Unit Trust of Pakistan, which is 30 per cent KIBOR and 70 per cent KSE-100 index posted a return of 29.77 per cent during the same time period. The return on KSE-100 index for the fiscal year 2007, stood at 37.87 per cent. Maintaining its history of healthy dividends, the fund has announced a bonus dividend of PRs2, 010.70 per unit for the year, which translates into 27.5 per cent of its opening NAV of PRs7, 311.62 per unit.
The Unit Trust of Pakistan, its assets under management touched PRs4.053bn as at June 30, 2007. The size of UTP is 1.63 per cent of all open end funds and 1.36 per cent of the total mutual funds industry size.
The trust’s net assets have grown at a CAGR of 32 per cent over the period FY98-07. The UTP was constituted as Pakistan’s first private sector open-ended balanced fund is managed by JS ABAMCO Limited.
Unit Trust of Pakistan has been rated 5-star by PACRA in the balanced funds category.
JS ABAMCO Limited is one of the largest asset management companies in Pakistan managing over PRs29bn in net assets on behalf of hundreds of institutions and thousands of individuals.
This premiere asset management company is a part of the Jahangir Siddiqui Group. The group has strong presence in investment and commercial banking, corporate finance, equity market operations, debt factoring and insurance sectors.
JS ABAMCO Limited is presently managing 8 open end and 3 closed end funds, and has launched a pension fund.

[Mudassir]

Seminar on mutual funds on February 2

A seminar on "Mutual funds- a tool for economic growth and public welfare" will be organised at a local hotel on February 2. The moot would be held under the auspices of the Karachi Branch Council of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP).

Those who would express their opinion on the occasion include: ICMAP Karachi Branch Council Chairman Jawed Mansha, National Fullerton Asset Management Limited Chief Executive Officer Dr Amjad Waheed, AKD CEO Faisal Bengali Investment Management Limited, Dawood Capital Management Limited CEO Tara Uzra, MCB Asset Management Company Limited CEO Yasir Qadri, Al-Meezan Investment Management Limited CEO Dr Muhammad Shoaib, Askari Investment Management Limited CEO Saeed Aziz Khan, of National Fullerton Asset Management Limited Head Corporate Sales Anita Mirza, ICMAP President Sher Afgan Malik.

[Mudassir]

'Mutual funds industry has shown remarkable growth in recent years'

Mutual funds industry in Pakistan has shown a remarkable growth in recent years, both in terms of number of funds as well as in net assets under management. These views were given by speakers at a seminar on "Mutual Funds a tool for Economic Growth and Public Awareness," organised by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan, here on Saturday.

They said that being a pooled investment vehicle, mutual fund enables retail investors to benefit from the professional expertise of fund managers and a diversified investment portfolio while avoiding direct exposure to the capital market. Sindh Education Minister Shujat Ali Baig said on this occasion that mutual funds have become popular because they offered advantages for economic growth.

He said that a single mutual fund can hold securities from hundreds or even thousands of issuers, far more than most investors could afford on their own. This diversification sharply reduces the risk of a serious loss due to problems in a particular company or industry.

Investors prefer to rely on a mutual fund's investment adviser. With access to extensive research, market information and skilled securities traders, the adviser decides which securities to buy and sell for the fund. Shares in mutual fund can be bought and sold nay business day, so investors have easy access to their money.

Mutual funds offer services that make investing easier. Fund shares can be bought or sold by mail, telephone or the Internet, so an investor can easily move his money from one fund to another, as his financial needs change.

Sher Afgan Malik, President, ICMAP said that the country has greater potential for investment and growing economy demands from the general public to show their tendency towards savings and investments.

He said that the mutual fund industry's main role is to raise funds from small investors and general public to play their role in mainstream investment. This may only possible if such efforts to be made on regular basis.

He said that in order to continue the growth pace, it is important that the investment shall be made in different sectors including growing mutual funds' sector. This can only possible through consistent policies and confidence building measures for the financial market.

The mutual fund sector has witnessed that it attracted both local and foreign investors measures but still there are rooms for improvement, he said and added that over a period of time, the serious investors have also started taking more interest in mutual funds and the government too seems serious about it.

Speakers said that due to sound economic growth, higher corporate earnings and a buoyant stock market, it is expected that mutual funds will continue to be an attractive investment avenue for retail investors.

However, for the industry to leapfrog, it is imperative that fund managers devise specialised and innovative products aimed at niche markets. The industry must also explore the possibility of launching more Islamic mutual funds, given the vast untapped potential in this sector.

They said that only a handful of Islamic mutual funds are currently operating that do not reflect the true appetite for Islamic finance in the country. It is important to note that with only a fraction of the country's population currently investing in mutual funds and the amount managed by mutual funds remaining low compared to bank deposits, there is a tremendous capacity for the industry to expand its client base.

Dr Amjad Waheed CEO, National Fullerton Management Limited; Abdullah Amin Head of Investment AKD Investment Management Limited; Tanweer Ahmed Haral SVP & Head of Strategic Sales Arif Habib Investment Management Limited; Ms Tara Uzra Dawood CEO Dawood Capital Management Limited; Muhammad Shuaib CE Al Meezan Investment Management Limited; Saeed Aziz Khan CEO Askari Investment Management Limited; Yasir Qadri CEO MCB Asset Management Company Limited; Ms Anita Mirza Head of Corporate Sales National Fullerton Management Limited, Ms Nazia Saleem SVP Arif Habib Investment Management Limited, Jawed Mansha Chairman Karachi Branch Council of ICMAP and Tariq Hussain Vice Chairman Karachi Branch Council ICMAP also spoke on this occasion.

[manzoor alam khan]

if i buy NIT how can i make money.
do i have to buy and redem.

[Mudassir]

APIF, APSF ratings released

The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency Limited (Pacra) has released ratings for AMZ Plus Income fund (APIF) and AMZ Plus Stock Fund (APSF) managed by AMZ Asset Management Limited. APIF has been awarded the highest rating of '5-star' denoting the superior performance in the income fund category.

The rating is not only based on performance, but also takes into consideration the good quality of underlying assets. APSF in its first year of operations has received a '3-star' rating, which reflects average performance.

AMZ Asset Management Limited is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as an asset management company and has been in operations since 2004.-PR

[Mudassir]

LSE nods JS Fund listing

The Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) has approved a formal listing and quotation of units of JS Aggressive Income Fund on the exchange. The fund will be quoted under the "Open-end Fund" sector of the Ready Board Quotation of the exchange, beginning on February 19.