Finnish fund PYN Elite earns 5% May returns after 4.3% April drop

Finland based PYN Elite Fund, focused on Vietnamese equities, recorded 4.97% returns in May, an impressive turnaround from a 4.3% drop in April.

It also outperformed the VN Index’s 4.3% growth in May.

The fund’s improvement was driven by a 24% increase in the value of ACV shares of Airports Corporation of Vietnam and a 36% rise in CMG shares of CMC Corporation during the month.

“The Vietnamese technology sector is advancing up the value chain and becoming increasingly important,” says a monthly report by the fund, which has been investing in Vietnam since 2013.

In April, software giant Nvidia signed a partnership with FPT and toured CMG’s data center. In May, several tech-related developments took place: Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy visited Vietnam and met with government, FPT and local tech communities; and the U.S.’s Marvell Technology announced a new design center in Danang and plans for another in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, China’s Victory Giant Tech Group is set to build a high-precision printed circuit board (PCB) factory; and Alibaba plans to build a data center in Vietnam.

In the first five months of this year, PYN Elite saw its returns increase 11.1%. It had total asset value of EUR446.55 million ($483 million) as of May 31.

The fund’s report highlights several macroeconomic indicators of the month in Vietnam, including industrial production expanding 8.9% year-on-year, the highest growth rate since Sep 2022. PMI stayed positive at 50.3 in May.

Exports went up 15.8% year-on-year, driven by electronic shipments; while imports rose 29.9%, driven by a broad-based increase in purchase of production inputs, suggesting manufacturers remain optimistic about orders in the coming month.

Retail sales picked up to a six-month high of 9.5% in May, with accommodation & catering services up 17% year-on-year and tourism up 34% year-on-year. International arrivals in the first five months of 2024 increased 65% year-on-year to 7.6 million.

The PYN Elite Fund’s 10 largest are: STB of Sacombank, ACV of Airports Corporation of Vietnam, MBB of MBBank, HDB of HDBank, CTG VietinBank, TPB of TPBank, DNSE of DNSE Securities, FPT of FPT Corporation, VHC of Vinh Hoan Corporation, and SHS of Saigon-Hanoi Securities.

At the stock market, the month’s strongest movers were HVN of Vietnam Airlines (+61.2%), CMG (+36.4%), and DBC of Dabaco (+27%). The bottom movers were HDB (-1.5%), VND of VNDirect Securities (-1.9%), and CTG (-2.7%).