Press Release

VIS Reaffirms Fund Stability Rating of Askari Sovereign Yield Enhancer

Karachi, January 02, 2025: VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (VIS) has reaffirmed Fund Stability Ratings (FSR) of Askari Sovereign Yield Enhancer (ASYE) at ‘AA-(f)’ (Double A Minus (f)). Medium to long-term fund rating of ‘AA-’ reflects high degree of stability in Net Asset Value; Risk is modest but may vary slightly from time to time because of changing economic conditions. Previous rating action was announced on December 27, 2023.

Launched in December 2011, Askari Sovereign Yield Enhancer (ASYE) is an open-end income fund, managed by Pak Oman Asset Management Limited. The objective of the Fund is to generate relatively higher yield than the conventional bank deposits, from a portfolio constituted of credit worthy sovereign instruments and banking sector fixed income instruments and deposits.

Assigned rating reflects the Fund’s asset allocation strategy, which largely remained within the guidelines stipulated in the offering document, with investments primarily vested in T-Bills, while remaining exposures were placed in Cash and PIBs. Fund's Assets Under Management (AUM) remained fairly stagnant throughout the year, only slightly exceeding the minimum fund size threshold. Assigned rating also takes into account the credit quality of the Fund, with proportion of assets allocated to Government Securities/AAA rated assets increased during FY24. However, the Fund’s credit quality faced pressure as placements shifter to A band. Going forward, maintenance of credit quality in line with the VIS benchmark will remain important for the assigned rating.

The weighted average time to maturity (WAM) of the Fund remained comfortably within the prescribed limit outlined in the offering document. Similarly, the Fund’s duration also stayed within the threshold. Retail investors accounted for nearly 100% of the Fund’s AUM, with a negligible portion held by corporate investors. Additionally, the Fund’s client concentration risk remained elevated. In terms of the performance, the Fund’s annualized return exceeded both its benchmark and peer average advancing to the first quartile from the second quartile in previous year.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact at 021-35311861-64 or email at info@vis.com.pk

Applicable Rating Criteria: Fund Stability Ratings
https://docs.vis.com.pk/docs/FundstabilityRating.pdf

VIS Issue/Issuer Rating Scale
https://docs.vis.com.pk/docs/VISRatingScales.pdf

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