PCM Fund public subscription opens on January 22

The Pakistan Capital Market Fund Limited (PCM) managed by the Arif Habib Investments will be opened for public subscription from January 22 to January 24, and the planning to sell 37.5 million shares through initial public offering.
Out of the total initial size of the fund worth Rs 1.5 billion, Rs 975 million has already been subscribed under pre-IPO arrangements by prominent financial institutions and other investors.
The Arif Habib Investments has made investment of Rs 150 million, leaving Rs 375 million for the public offer.
The PCM would be the first Fund being structured as a closed-end Unit Trust scheme under the recently announced Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) Rules, thus providing investors with the added protection of a trustee.
The PCM would be the second closed-end Fund to be managed by the Arif Habib Investments, which already manages the Pakistan Premier Fund. With already about Rs 5.5 billion in mutual funds, the launch of the PCM would raise the total sum under its management to Rs 7 billion.
Besides the two closed-end funds, the company also manages three open-end funds: the Pakistan Stock Market Fund (PSM); Pakistan Income Fund (PIF); and MetroBank - Pakistan Sovereign Fund (MSF), a strategic alliance with the Metropolitan Bank Limited.
The PSM gave out total return of 81.82 percent for fiscal 2002-03 and a bonus distribution of 40 percent; the PIF delivered total return of 12.4 percent and a bonus distribution of 12 percent.
The Pakistan Premier Fund declared right issue at 50 percent during fiscal 2002-03, a bonus of 12.5 percent applicable to right shares as well, and that followed by interim dividend at 12.5 percent for the current financial year.
The Mutual Funds enable investors to minimise risk through diversification of fund holdings.
These funds offer tremendous opportunities for investors since they spread funds across numerous investment avenues.
The Pakistan Capital Market Fund (PCMF) in particular, should enable investors to diversify risk as the investments (of the Fund) may include traded securities or contracts covering debt, equity, money market transactions, and deposits in the Pak rupee.
The investments may also be made in listed venture capital companies, subject to the regulatory compliance.

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Fund                        PSM                 PIF                   MSF                 PPF(Formerly

                                                                                    KASB Premier Fund)

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Date of Launching        1 March 2002        1 March 2002         1 March 2003        27 December 2002

                                                                                    (Acquisition Date)

Nature of Fund           Equities Fund       Money Market Fund    Govt. Bonds Fund       Equities Fund

NAV (As on               Rs 1098 million     Rs 2605 million      Rs 486 million        Rs 937 million

Sept 30, 03)

Par Value                Rs 50               Rs 50                      -                        Rs 10

NAV per unit/share       Rs 88.14            Rs 52.10                   -                     Rs 15.61

(As on Sept 30, 03)

Structure of Fund        Open-end            Open-end             Open-end                  Closed-end

Distribution             40% per unit        12% per unit         0.67% to 1.0%            12.5% Bonus

(30 June 2003)                                                  (Range)

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