OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Attijari Monetaire Jour's (ATTIJMJ) and CDM Securite Plus's (CDMSP) National Money Market Fund Ratings at 'AAAmmf(mar)'. Both money market funds are domiciled in Morocco and managed by Wafa Gestion (Highest Standards(mar)).

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Portfolio Credit Quality/Diversification
The funds invest in securities issued by the Kingdom of Morocco or other Moroccan rated issuers of high credit quality, and in repurchase agreements (repos) backed by government bonds.

The funds have recourse to overnight (or callable overnight) inter-fund repos with other funds managed by Wafa Gestion (20% maximum exposure per fund). Such inter-fund repos are collateralised by the Moroccan government or with government-guaranteed bonds exclusively. Inter-funds repos represented 42% and 39% of ATTIJMJ's and CDMSP's assets, respectively, as of end-September 2015.

Exposure to a single issuer is limited by regulation to 10% (excluding time deposits) and 20% for repo counterparties, consistent with Fitch's criteria. At end-September 2015, ATTIJMJ and CDMSP were 37%- and 19%-invested in government assets and 80% and 87% in repos, respectively.

Maturity Profile
Interest rate risk is contained by the portfolio's weighted average maturity (WAM) of below three months, as per Fitch 'AAAmmf(mar)' guidelines. At end-September 2015, WAMs of ATTIJMJ and CDMSP were 28 and 20 days, respectively. Individual asset maturity is limited to one year.

Liquidity Profile
The funds maintain a high allocation to liquid assets, with typically more than one quarter of the portfolio in repos overnight (or callable overnight). The funds' shareholder base exhibits some concentration, with the largest investor representing 17% and 20% of ATTIJMJ's and CDMSP's assets, respectively, as of 9 October 2015. This concentration is, however, mitigated by the high level of liquidity maintained by the funds.

Fund Objectives
The funds' objective is to preserve capital and liquidity. The funds pursue their investment objective by investing in high-quality money market instruments and short-term debt including time deposits, certificates of deposit, sovereign bonds and notes, and repos.

Investment Advisor
Incorporated in 1995, Wafa Gestion is the asset management arm of AttijariWafa Bank (AA-(mar)/Stable/F1+(mar)), its main shareholder with 66% of capital, while the remainder is held by the French asset manager, Amundi (A+/Stable/F1). Wafa Gestion employed 39 staff, including 10 portfolio managers at end-June 2015 and managed assets totalling MAD94bn (EUR8.6bn). As of 9 October 2015, ATTIJMJ and CDMSP had MAD453m and MAD292m of assets, respectively.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
The ratings may be sensitive to material changes in the credit quality or market risk profiles of the funds. A material adverse deviation from Fitch's guidelines may result in a downgrade of the ratings.

A downgrade of the sovereign's international Long-term Issuer Default Rating may not necessarily result in a downgrade of the fund's National Money Market Fund Rating as it could continue to represent the lowest credit, market and liquidity risk available in Morocco, in line with Fitch's national scale rating approach. However, this is based on the assumption that liquidity in capital markets will not be structurally impaired to the extent that it prevents funds from meeting Fitch's national scale rating criteria.