Press Release

JCR-VIS Assigns MQ Rating of AM3 to Primus Investment Management Limited

Karachi, January 08, 2013: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Ltd. has assigned Management Quality Rating of ‘AM3’ (AM-Three) to Primus Investment Management Limited (Primus). Outlook on the rating is ‘Stable.’

Established in 2011, Primus is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pak Brunei Investment Company Limited (Pak Brunei) and has the license to undertake asset management and investment advisory services. The company has resource-sharing arrangements for Human Resource, Research, Internal Audit, Compliance and Information Technology functions with its parent company. In-house functions of the AMC comprise Finance, Fund Management, Risk and Operations. Organizational structure and resource base is in line with current scope of operations. Policy framework in place for investment management and administration is comprehensive and covers key areas of company’s current scope of operations.

The rating incorporates further capacity building in the areas of marketing, fund management and research, planned to be undertaken as additional product structures are launched. Greater diversity in investment mandates under management may allow a more comprehensive assessment of investment management expertise of Primus. At present, expertise of the investment management team is primarily in the area of fixed income. Both funds launched by the company, Primus Cash Fund (PCF) and Primus Daily Reserve Fund (PDRF), are structured as money market funds. However, the AMC has plans to diversify its product portfolio during CY2013.

PCF features a low-risk investment policy. While year to date performance of PCF is in the third quartile of the entire money market funds category, return of the fund, nevertheless, compares favorably to those money market funds that are maintaining duration under 45 days, which is the duration limit for PCF also. Given that PCF was launched in August 2012 and PDRF has been launched in January 2013 only, consistency of performance will be established over time.

Various marketing initiatives are planned to create awareness about the company’s brand. The translation of same into the company’s ability to tap into a larger investor base will be tracked by JCR-VIS. The company plans to rely primarily on external distributors for generating retail sales.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Mr. Javed Callea (Ext. 501) or Ms. Sobia Maqbool, CFA (Ext: 604) at 021-35311861-71 or fax to 021-35311872-3.



Jamal Abbas Zaidi
Deputy CEO

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