Press Release
JCR-VIS assigns preliminary Fund Stability Rating of AA+(f) to Meezan Sovereign Fund
Karachi, February 02, 2010: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited has assigned preliminary fund stability rating (FSR) of ‘AA+(f)’ (Double A Plus (f)) to Meezan Sovereign Fund (MSF).
The fund is planned to be launched by Al Meezan Investment Management Limited, with IPO targeted for second week of February.
MSF is structured as an open-end income fund. Investment objective of the fund is maximum possible preservation of capital and to earn a reasonable rate of return by way of primarily investing in government securities.
Credit risk is expected to be minimal in view of the fund’s investment policy which is subject to a minimum exposure limit of 70% in government securities. The remaining funds may be deployed with banks. Counterparty risk in this avenue is also expected to be manageable with exposure in ‘A+’ rated banks capped at 10%, while the remaining may only be maintained with ‘AA’ and above rated banks. Interest rate risk is expected to be low with overall portfolio duration to be maintained at an average of six months.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Ms. Sabeen Saleem (Ext: 510) or Ms. Sobia Maqbool (Ext: 506) at 021-35311861-70 or fax to 021-35311872-3.
Safdar Kazi
Director