Press Release
VIS Upgrades Fund Stability Rating of HBL Money Market Fund
Karachi, December 31, 2020: VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (VIS) has upgraded the Fund Stability Rating (FSR) of HBL Money Market Fund (HMMF) to ‘AA+ (f)’ (Double A plus (f)). The previous rating action was announced on December 30, 2019.
The rating action incorporates updated FUND STBILITY RATING methodology which can be found on our website https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/backupsqlvis/docs/FundstabilityRating.pdf for reference.
HMMF is an open ended fund which offers high liquidity through investments low risk securities of shorter duration and maturity. At end-FY20 net assets of the fund witnessed a substantial increase amounting to Rs. 9.97b (FY19 Rs. 6.2b) The fund’s actual asset allocation plan and credit quality majorly complied with the specified guidelines of the offering document, the fund’s assets remained primarily invested in cash balances and T-bills while remaining investment portfolio comprised of commercial paper and other authorized investment avenues. Monthly average analysis depict that 40% of the fund’s assets were parked in AAA rated issue/issuer. Moreover, during FY20 modified duration of the fund remained within the 90 days specified limit for the assigned ratings indicating limited exposure to market risk. Total number of investors in the fund significantly increased where more than 50% of the portfolio contribution was by retail investors. Owing to the fund’s asset base comprising of cash balances and T-bills, liquidity of the fund is considered adequate.
For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Muhammad Tabish (Ext: 204) or the undersigned (Ext: 301) at 35311861-70 or email at info@vis.com.pk
Faheem Ahmad
President & CEO
Applicable rating criteria: Fund Stability Ratings (December 2020)
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/backupsqlvis/docs/FundstabilityRating.pdf