April 10, 2019 (MLN): Among all the funds that invest in Shariah Compliant Equity markets, Alfalah GHP Islamic Stock Fund (AGHP-ISF) has emerged as the best performer for the third quarter of ongoing fiscal year 2019 (FY19), having recorded the most significant growth in its Net Asset Value (NAV).
According to data aligned by Mettis Global Private Limited, its returns per share increased by 4.4% in these three months, marking a positive change of Rs.1.99 per share.
The fund has over 9% of its shareholdings in PPL, ENGRO and OGDC each, and all these companies observed decent gains in returns during the period, especially PPL as it recorded a positive change of over 25% in its share price.
Over 10% of AGHP-ISF’s shareholdings are in PPL, which is the biggest portion of its total holdings.
Sector wise, over 29% over the fund’s totals shares are held in the Oil & Gas Exploration Companies, which performed agreeably on the back of hikes in international oil prices. Oil WTI on December 31, 2018 was $45.44 per barrel and it went up to $60.17 per barrel by March 31, 2019, thereby marking a net increase of 32% during the period.
Other companies where the AGHP-ISF’s shares are held include HUBCO, EFERT, POL and LUCK, to name a few.
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Following AGHP-ISF in the list of top performing Islamic funds is ABL Islamic Stock Fund (ABL-ISF), with a 3.9% increase in returns as its NAV added 52 paisa to its value, during the period.
Like AGHP-ISF, ABL-ISF holds most of its shares in Oil & Gas Exploration Companies, (nearly 27%), with the maximum investment in OGDC which observed 15.5% rise in returns, this quarter.
In comparison, KMI-30 recorded a little over 3% increase in returns, having recorded a net change of 1,870 points in the index.
This means that 5 Shariah Compliant equity funds have exceeded the performance benchmark set by the KMI- 30 index. Apart from the two mentioned above, these funds include Atlas Islamic Stock Fund, NIT Islamic Equity Fund and Al Ameen Shariah Stock Fund.
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Meanwhile, Islamic funds that witnessed the smallest growth in NAV include, NAFA Islamic Energy Fund (+0.84%) and Al Meezan Mutual Fund (+1.4%).
Strikingly enough, both of these funds hold majority of their shares in Oil & Gas Exploration Companies as well. In fact, NAFA-IEF’s shareholding in the sector is over 50% of its overall portfolio, yet they recorded the smallest increase in returns.
This indicates that the portfolio management techniques employed by AGHP-ISF and ABL-ISF are remarkable and standout in favor of these funds.
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