Pakistan mutual funds hit Rs4.48tr; equity AUMs surge 9% MoM

May 13, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan's mutual fund industry recorded broad-based growth in April 2026, with total assets under management reaching Rs4.476 trillion up 3% from March.

The standout movement came from equities: total equity AUMs climbed 9% month-on-month to Rs643 billion, far outpacing the 2% rise seen in debt portfolios over the same period, according to Arif Habib Limited.

Conventional equity funds expanded 10% MoM to Rs341bn, while Shariah-compliant equity funds rose 8% to Rs302bn.

Together, equity now accounts for 14% of total industry AUMs one percentage point higher than in March though debt continues to dominate the landscape at 86%.

Al Meezan Investment Management Ltd. stands as the largest fund house in April 2026 with Rs708bn in total AUMs, built almost entirely on its Shariah-compliant equity book of Rs100bn.

NBP Fund Management Ltd. at Rs560bn and MCB Investment Management Ltd. at Rs431bn follow closely, though both are heavily weighted toward debt.

ABL Asset Management Company carries the highest debt allocation in the industry at 95%, showing a deeply conservative portfolio stance.

In the conventional equity space, National Investment Trust Ltd. leads with Rs83bn, followed by NBP Fund Management at Rs58bn, UBL Fund Managers at Rs42bn, and Atlas Asset Management at Rs40bn.

On the Islamic equity side, Al Meezan commands Rs100bn more than double its nearest rival, Pak-Qatar Asset Management Company, which manages Rs46bn in Shariah-compliant equity assets.

OGDC retained its position as the most widely held stock in April 2026, featuring in 96 funds and accounting for 7.8% of total equity AUMs up from 7.3% in March with fund holdings growing 16.9% MoM to Rs49.9bn.

LUCK posted a 15.8% MoM rise to Rs31.4bn, while MEBL and PPL also recorded healthy gains of 12.1% and 7.8% respectively. FFC remained the second-largest holding at Rs39.3bn across 79 funds.

Not all names participated in the rally, however. Systems Limited saw fund holdings decline 8.1% MoM, while NBP shed 23.6% of its fund ownership value the two notable laggards among the top 30, suggesting selective profit-taking in certain financial and technology names.

In terms of free-float ownership, mutual funds collectively held 38.6% of PSO's free float as of April 2026 the highest concentration of any stock on the list.

OGDC followed at 25.5%, with KOHC at 23.1%, PPL at 22.3%, and KTML at 20.8% also showing significant fund ownership relative to their public floats.

This level of institutional concentration means these stocks are particularly sensitive to any large-scale shifts in equity fund flows.

In aggregate, the top-30 equity holdings represented 63.1% of all equity AUMs in April 2026 equivalent to Rs406bn a slight increase from 62.4% in March, indicated that fund managers remain clustered around a core universe of large-cap liquid names.

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