Press Release
JCR-VIS Upgrades Fund Stability Rating of UBL Growth and Income Fund
Karachi, March 10, 2017: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Co. Ltd. (JCR-VIS) has upgraded the Fund Stability Rating (FSR) of UBL Growth and Income Fund (UGIF) to ‘A’(f) (Single A (f)) from ‘BBB+(f)’ (Triple B Plus (f)). The previous rating action was announced on December 30, 2016.
The revision in rating incorporates adoption of a more prudent investment policy with minimum threshold defined for credit risk and weighted average duration of the fund. As per the revised investment policy, the fund is required to maintain minimum of 10% net assets each in cash & T-bills, while exposure to Corporate Bonds may comprise up to 50% of net assets. The fund will maintain up to 75% of its net assets in A or higher rated investment avenues at all times. As at end-February’2017, over four-fifth of the fund’s investments were in A and above rated counterparties. Exposure to market risk is considered manageable on account of 1 year cap on weighted average duration of the fund.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact the undersigned (Ext: 201) or Mr. Javed Callea (Ext: 207) at 35311861-70 or fax to 35311872.
Jamal Abbas Zaidi
Advisor
Applicable Rating Criteria: Fund Stability Ratings (February 2012)
http://jcrvis.com.pk/Images/FSRMeth-201202.pdf