KARACHI, July 5: Arif Habib Investments (AHIL) declared on Wednesday a bonus distribution of Rs30 per unit for its equity fund, Pakistan Stock Market Fund (PSM), a press release issued by the company stated.

In terms of total return, the PSM’s Net Asset Value (NAV) per unit has grown from Rs90.10 to Rs114.29, recording a rise of 26.85pc.

The press release noted that the Fund had grown from Rs2.7 billion last year to Rs3.6 billion by June 30, 2006. An investor holding 100 units as of June 30, 2006 would receive 35.5914 additional units at the ex bonus Net Asset Value based price of Rs84.29 per unit. PSM has also retained its 5 star rating for the second year in running.

The Board of AHIL also declared payouts for two other open-end funds of the Pakistan series, Pakistan Income Fund (PIF) and Pakistan Capital Market Fund (PCM). Unit holders of Pakistan Income Fund (PIF) will be entitled to a bonus of Rs5 per unit. Investors holding 100 units of PIF will receive 9.978 additional units at an ex-bonus Net Asset Value based price of Rs50.11. PIF’s NAV rose from Rs50.05 per unit to Rs55.11 per unit providing a total return of 10.11pc to its investors.

For Pakistan Capital Market Fund (PCM) bonus of Rs3 per unit was declared. Investors holding 100 units of PCM will receive 26.019 additional units at an ex-bonus Net Asset Value based price of Rs11.53. PCM’s Net Asset Value based unit price rose from Rs11.33 per unit to Rs14.53. PCM is also the first fund which was converted from a closed-end to an open-end structure during the financial year with a view to provide investors an opportunity to realise their gains at price, which is higher than the market price which closed-end funds trade on.

The recently launched Pakistan International Islamic Fund (PIIF), with only two months since its launch, did not announce a payout. The fund is expected to start investing abroad shortly, as overseas markets seemed to be settling down.

The company press release stated that AHIL and other mutual funds in the market have provided small investors a good opportunity to access the capital markets.