Karachi, February 09, 2011: JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Ltd. (JCR-VIS) has assigned Management Quality Rating of ‘AM2-’ (AM-Two Minus) to IGI Funds Limited (IGIFL). Outlook on the assigned rating is ‘Stable’.

The assigned rating takes into account the sound governance structure instituted at the management company. The Board of Directors (BoD) of IGIFL comprises qualified personnel with diversified backgrounds. Policies to deal with conflict of interest are also well defined. Management resources at the company comprise competent personnel. Some support services are shared at the group level. In the area of risk management, which is also a group shared service, policy manual has been developed to broaden the scope of risk management and its full scale implementation will be tracked over time, including the resources deployed for this function.

The AMC is primarily engaged in floating & managing mutual funds. In addition to this, portfolio management of investment advisory mandates mobilized by the parent company is also supervised by IGIFL. These mandates are largely non-discretionary in nature. Actual asset allocation of Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) is in line with portfolio mandates and returns are competitive vis-à-vis respective benchmarks. The deployment of proposed on-line portal is expected to improve the access of SMA clients to information related to their portfolio.

The company has five funds under management. A degree of conservatism emanates from the BoD, as reflected by the decisions taken during and after the crisis in the local capital markets. The income fund under management has mostly remained insulated from the credit failures in the market and returns have remained consistent. Return of IGI Stock Fund is close to the peer group average. The recently acquired fund from another AMC comprises high proportion of high risk assets and portfolio restructuring is being undertaken to improve risk profile.

Marketing of the funds under management has room for improvement as aggregate number of unit holders in all open-end funds combined is currently very low. The in-house sales team is proposed to be strengthened, which will focus on both corporate and retail segments.

For further information on this rating announcement, please contact Ms. Sabeen Saleem, CFA (Ext: 510) or Ms. Sobia Maqbool, CFA (Ext: 506) at 35311861-70 or fax to 35311872-3.



Faheem Ahmad
CEO & President

Information herein was obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable; however, JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.JCR-VIS is not an NRSRO and its ratings are not NRSRO credit ratings. JCR-VIS is paid a fee for most rating assignments. This rating is an opinion on credit quality only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Copyright 2011 JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited. All rights reserved. Contents may be used by news media with credit to JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited.