Press Release

JCR-VIS Reaffirms Fund Stability Rating of HBL Islamic Income Fund

Karachi, December 26, 2018: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) has reaffirmed the Fund Stability Rating (FSR) of HBL Islamic Income Fund (HIIF) at ‘A+ (f)’ (Single A Plus (f)). The previous rating action was announced on December 29, 2017.

HIIF is a Shariah Compliant open end fund which aims to provide investors comparable returns by investing in diversified pool of debt instruments, bank deposits and other approved investment avenues. As at end-June’2018, net assets of the fund slightly declined to Rs. 4b (FY17: Rs. 4.4b).

Asset allocation of the fund largely remained within the stipulated limits defined in the investment policy. During the review period, average asset allocation was inclined towards bank deposits and Corporate Sukuk. While some deviations from credit quality criteria for the assigned ratings have been noted, reaffirmation of rating incorporates commitment of the management to comply with the same, going forward. Exposure to market risk has declined on account of lower duration. Furthermore, relative ranking of the fund improved with returns reported in the first quartile (FY17: second quartile) vis-a-vis industry peers.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact the undersigned (Ext: 207) or Mr. Javed Callea (Ext: 201) at 021-35311861-71 or fax to 021-35311872-3.




Jamal Abbas Zaidi
Advisor

Applicable Rating Criteria: Fund Stability Ratings (September 2018)
http://jcrvis.com.pk/docs/Fund%20stability%20Rating092018.pdf

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