How to Compare Mutual Funds in Pakistan

The short answer

Compare mutual funds in two stages. First choose a suitable category by time horizon, liquidity need, and capacity for loss. Then compare funds inside that category using the same reporting dates, pricing basis, portfolio facts, charges, and return definition. A cross-category rank can reward whichever market took the most risk in the selected period.

Use the Pakistan mutual-funds market for current MUFAP-reported facts and category medians. Read mutual funds for beginners for unit mechanics, money market versus income versus equity funds for category selection, and Shariah-compliant mutual funds when that framework applies.

Build a comparable shortlist

Write the goal before opening a performance table. Record the required amount, date, whether the date can move, cash that must remain accessible, and the rupee loss the goal can withstand. Choose one category that fits those constraints. Do not start by sorting every fund by its latest return.

Confirm each candidate’s exact identity in the MUFAP fund directory. Save the MUFAP FundID, full name, asset management company, category, scheme type, and eligibility. Exclude a restricted plan if the investor cannot legally or operationally enter it. Keep pension sub-funds and ETFs separate from ordinary open-end products unless their mechanics fit the comparison.

| Shortlist check | Accept | Reject or investigate | |---|---|---| | Identity | Exact FundID and AMC match | Similar name with no stable match | | Category | Same economic exposure and mandate | Broad label hides different duration or asset mix | | Eligibility | Public or confirmed eligible | Dedicated or employee restriction is unresolved | | Date | Same or clearly disclosed reporting basis | Values from unrelated dates are presented together | | Source | MUFAP or issuer-controlled document | Screenshot or copied table with no source link | | History | Official observations or standardized reported periods | Reconstructed line from a single horizon return |

Sahulat Capital matches by MUFAP FundID. It uses normalized name plus AMC only where the result is unique. Ambiguous rows are quarantined rather than assigned to a guessed fund.

Compare transaction pricing

For open-end products, NAV, offer price, and repurchase price answer different questions. The MUFAP NAV and sale-load report provides current official fields and validity dates.

Record:

• NAV per unit
• Offer price per unit
• Repurchase price per unit
• Front-end load
• Back-end load
• Validity date
• Cut-off time and settlement process from the issuer

Illustrative PKR example: Fund A reports NAV PKR 50, offer PKR 51, and repurchase PKR 49.75. Fund B reports NAV, offer, and repurchase at PKR 25. A PKR 510,000 purchase of Fund A gives 10,000 units at the offer price. Its immediate repurchase value is PKR 497,500, a PKR 12,500 difference before later deductions. Fund B may have less initial pricing friction, but that alone does not establish better risk, portfolio, or future results.

Use repurchase price to estimate current redeemable value when it is reported. Use NAV as a fallback and label it. Do not describe either as live when the validity date is a prior business day.

Compare return definitions and periods

MUFAP’s performance summary reports standardized horizons. Read the category heading to determine whether a figure is annualized or period return. Check distributions and total-return treatment. A NAV-only change can misstate the experience when cash was paid out.

Use the same horizon and basis for every candidate. A 30-day annualized money market figure and a cumulative equity figure cannot be subtracted as if they were the same unit. Do not divide an annual return by twelve to create an expected monthly return. Do not reconstruct a three-year NAV line from the endpoint return.

Category median is useful context. If a fund is far from the median, investigate portfolio, fees, cash, duration, credit, concentration, distributions, and data quality. The difference can reflect skill, risk, timing, or a reporting issue. A deviation alone does not prove which.

Illustrative PKR example: two funds in one category report 365-day results of 11 percent and 13 percent. On PKR 1,000,000, the simple difference is PKR 20,000 before accounting for transaction prices, distributions, investor cash-flow dates, taxes, and later deductions. If the higher result came with materially greater duration or credit concentration, the two percentages are not the whole comparison.

Compare portfolio risk

For money market and income funds, inspect maturity, duration where available, government versus corporate allocation, issuer and counterparty concentration, rating mix, liquidity, and non-performing or restructured exposure where disclosed. A higher yield can accompany longer duration, weaker credit, or less liquidity.

For equity funds, inspect top holdings, sector weights, benchmark, cash, turnover, concentration, and tracking method. A high return can reflect one sector or valuation phase. Compare performance against the stated benchmark over multiple market conditions and check whether the mandate changed.

For asset allocation, balanced, or fund-of-funds products, inspect the current mix and allowed ranges. A broad label can hide the exposure driving the result. Fund-of-funds structures can add a second cost layer.

For Shariah products, add current governance, screen, adviser, compliance reports, and purification treatment. For ETFs, add exchange price, spread, liquidity, market makers, NAV, and tracking difference.

Compare charges on the same basis

Read the MUFAP expense-ratio report, offering document, and current issuer disclosures. Record the TER period, management fee, sales and marketing charge where reported, front-end and back-end loads, and any operating cost that reaches the investor’s cash flow.

Do not add percentages that use different bases. TER affects fund assets. A load affects the transaction price or proceeds. Tax depends on rules and investor circumstances. Show each item separately before estimating the rupee effect.

Illustrative PKR example: a 1 percent front-end charge on PKR 500,000 is PKR 5,000 if applied directly to that base. A 1 percent annual TER is not the same cash event. It operates through fund expenses over its reporting period. The example only distinguishes bases and does not describe a current product.

A low TER cannot repair an unsuitable category. Among otherwise comparable funds, cost differences matter because they reduce what remains in the portfolio. Read the date. A year-to-date TER can change as the year develops.

Compare size, access, and operations

MUFAP’s monthly AUM report shows reported assets by fund. AUM helps describe scale, but larger does not automatically mean safer or better. Investigate large changes. They can reflect subscriptions, redemptions, market movement, payouts, mergers, or reporting changes.

Review redemption cut-off, settlement days, bank channel, minimum transaction, statement access, complaint path, recurring-investment operation, and distribution handling. Test the operating flow with a modest amount before relying on it for a larger cash need. Save confirmations and match the first unit statement.

If one official report omits a fund, do not conclude the fund disappeared. Check the directory and issuer notice. Sahulat Capital preserves the historical identity and marks whether the product was present in the latest verified directory.

Use a written comparison sheet

Create one row per fund with these columns:

1. FundID, full name, AMC, category, and eligibility.
2. Goal and latest acceptable redemption date.
3. NAV, offer, repurchase, loads, and validity date.
4. Reported 30-day, 365-day, and three-year returns with basis.
5. Benchmark and distribution treatment.
6. Top portfolio exposures, maturity or duration, credit, and concentration.
7. TER and other relevant charges with period.
8. AUM and month.
9. Redemption steps, cut-off, and settlement time.
10. Main failure scenario and source links.

Then write a short reason for keeping or removing each candidate. “Highest return” is not enough. A useful reason links the fund’s mandate and operating facts to the goal.

Red flags and failure scenarios

• A social post has a return but no fund identity, date, or return basis.
• A plan is restricted, but the comparison treats it as publicly available.
• A money market fund and equity fund are ranked together without showing loss differences.
• An offer price is compared with another fund’s NAV.
• A three-year reported return is turned into a smooth chart.
• A distribution is ignored, making NAV movement look like total return.
• A lower TER is used to overlook credit, duration, liquidity, or concentration.
• Old issuer documents are used after a material mandate change.
• A tax estimate applies equity CGT to every fund.
• A fund is declared the winner from one recent period.

Sahulat Capital does not produce a synthetic fund score. Missing official history stays missing. Invalid values and unexplained universe drops cannot replace the last verified dataset.

Tax and personal suitability

Mutual-fund tax can vary by category, distribution, investor status, and current law. Sahulat Capital leaves the estimate unavailable until reviewed category-specific FBR rules exist. Consult a qualified tax adviser for personal treatment. Unavailable is not a zero-tax claim.

The comparison also cannot determine personal suitability. Capacity for loss depends on income, obligations, other assets, and the consequence of a shortfall. The framework helps organize evidence. It does not choose an allocation.

Methodology and limits

This method screens for exact identity, matching category, eligibility, pricing basis, date alignment, return definition, portfolio risk, expenses, scale, and operations. It uses category medians as descriptive evidence and preserves the source URL and official date for every displayed value.

The method does not forecast NAV, rank funds across categories, promise redemption timing, calculate personal tax, establish Shariah suitability, or recommend a fund. Official reports and offering documents can change. Verify the current source set before a transaction.