Investing

Pakistan’s inflation has swung from a 60-year low of 0.7% in March 2025 to 12% by mid-2026, quietly destroying the purchasing power of anyone holding cash or low-yield savings accounts. Inflation-beating investment strategies for Pakistani investors are not about finding a single safe product but combining equities, gold, real assets, and foreign currency exposure into a portfolio that genuinely grows in real terms. This guide covers every strategy that has historically worked in Pakistan, with specific allocations for different time horizons and risk profiles in 2026.

Pakistan’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy in a way that few other sectors can claim. It employs approximately 38 percent of the labor force, contributes around 24 percent of GDP, and underpins Pakistan’s food security for a population of over 240 million people. Cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, and fruits place … Read more

A close friend of mine spent years investing in conventional bank fixed deposits, fully aware that the interest income was creating a personal religious conflict for him. He wanted a stable, low-risk return on his savings but genuinely did not want to earn income from interest. He knew Islamic savings accounts existed but was not … Read more

Here is a number that stops most Pakistanis cold when they first hear it. The KSE-100 Index launched in November 1991 at 1,000 points. By January 2026, it had peaked at approximately 191,000 points. That is a 19,000 percent increase over 35 years. Yet most Pakistanis with money to invest have never bought a single … Read more

The Pakistan Stock Exchange has delivered some of the highest returns of any emerging market over the past decade. The KSE-100 Index has compounded at roughly 15 to 20 percent annually in PKR terms over long periods, and companies like Engro, MCB, and FFC have delivered multi-bagger returns for patient long-term investors. Yet most Pakistanis … Read more

It is a burning question these days how to retire comfortably in Pakistan. Retirement planning is one of those topics that most Pakistanis know they should be thinking about but almost never actually do until it is too late. I have seen this play out repeatedly in the families around me. A father who worked … Read more

Approximately 9 million Pakistanis live abroad, and almost every one of them maintains some form of financial connection to Pakistan. They send remittances to support families, dream of owning property back home, and want to keep part of their savings invested in the country they grew up in. For a long time, doing any of … Read more

My grandfather kept his entire life savings in National Savings Certificates. He never invested in stocks, never bought mutual funds, and had no interest in anything that involved uncertainty. What he had was a Defence Savings Certificate renewed faithfully every ten years, a Regular Income Certificate that paid his household expenses after retirement, and a … Read more

Understanding mutual funds in Pakistan is one thing. Actually investing in them is another. Most Pakistanis who are curious about mutual funds get stuck somewhere between reading about them and placing their first investment, usually because nobody has clearly explained the practical mechanics of how to actually open an account, which platform to use, what … Read more

If you are planning to invest in a Voluntary Pension Scheme (VPS), you’ll eventually come across two terms that make many people stop and think: Front End Load and Management Fee. The first time I saw these charges, I assumed they were just different names for the same fee. After reading the fund documents and … Read more