Energy majors dominate mutual-fund portfolios as OGDC, PPL and PSO soak up fresh flows

Pakistan’s equity mutual-fund industry has seldom been accused of imagination, but the latest positioning data compiled by Arif Habib Ltd reveal a concentration that is striking even by local standards. In its June quarter review of public portfolio disclosures, the brokerage finds that three state-linked energy giants – Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) – now sit at the top of almost every equity fund’s shopping list.

OGDC leads the pack: 62 open-ended and closed-ended funds report holding the exploration behemoth, controlling a combined 17.2% of the company’s free float. Close on its heels, PPL appears in 51 funds with 15.5% of free float under collective ownership. PSO, the downstream monopolist, ranks third: 50 portfolios together own 29.7% of the fuel marketer’s tradable shares. “It is the highest retail-cum-institutional stack-up we have seen in PSO since the GDR days of 2008,” notes Arif Habib’s research team.

The skew lays bare two realities: first, professional investors still favour high-liquidity, dividend-rich large-caps in a market where average daily turnover rarely tops US $30 million; second, the energy patch remains one of the few sectors offering index weight, currency insulation and a predictable payout policy.