KARACHI – MCB Asset Management Company and Arif Habib Investments (AHI) are set to sign the country’s largest mutual funds merger worth Rs 26 billion. A formal share holder agreement, in this regard, is to be signed in a few days.
This was disclosed by the AHI Chief Executive Officer Nasim Beg, in a meeting with selected journalists; at his headquarter here in Karachi. He said that talks for a merger have been underway since months, while the merger will complete in the upcoming days. It is to be noted that AHI and MCB have a net asset value of around Rs 13 billion, so this merger would be the largest in terms of its capacity. AHI would be in possession of the highest funds in the country after this merger.
Applications for the NOCs and formal requirements of the said procedure with Competition Commission of Pakistan, Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan and State Bank of Pakistan have been sent. Nasim Baig stated that a shareholders’ meeting would be convened following approvals from the said regulators. He added that this merger would provide a new dimension to the mutual funds industry.
AHI had also converted their Pakistan Strategic Allocation Fund (PSAF) and Pakistan Premier Fund (PPF) from closed-end schemes into open-end schemes. The CEO maintained that this was done to correct inconsistencies and in light of the proactive approach of Arif Habib Investments (AHI) of treating customers fairly.
Nasem further disclosed that under the reeds investment domain, the company’s four funds are awaiting the nod of SECP, while the flagship project of development reed in New Nazimabad City is to be built on 1300 acres in phases for the middle income level people.
Under rental reed and hybrid reed, the company is to build two office towers in Clifton, while major investment of the company is in the fertiliser sector. He added that Ayesha Steels is also their project and would be functional later this year. He further stated that the group is also setting up a 50MW wind power project near Thatta in Sindh which would be operational in a year’s time. However, the AHI has brought an index tracker fund under the agreement with Dow Jones for building a better image for the company.
He claimed that the company has a good reputation, which can be gauged by the Pakistan Stability Ratings for three of Arif Habib Investments (AHI) Funds announced by the Credit Rating Agency (PACRA). This signifies a very low exposure to risks and a very strong capacity to manage relative stability in returns.
While giving a brief on the company, he said that AHI is an asset management company with a net asset value of Rs 13.18 billion. It is managing 11 open-end, two Pension Funds and eight investment plans. The company was conceived in the year 2000 and is rated AM2 (Positive outlook), currently the highest Asset Management Quality rating in the industry. AHI is part of Arif Habib Group and its holding company; Arif Habib Corporation (formerly Arif Habib Securities Limited) has interests in the securities brokerage, financial advisory, investment management, commercial banking, commodities, private equity, microfinance, real estate, cement and fertiliser industries, he said.
