Investment channel expectations for 2023

Stocks, gold, and real estate in Vietnam will probably be sound channels for investors this year amid current global economic headwinds, but improving portfolios to minimize risks is advisable, a business roundtable on Tuesday heard.

Global investment funds, despite recent fluctuations in the Vietnamese stock market, are still keeping a close eye on the market with the intention to place additional money in it, Quan Duc Hoang, chairman of A+ Fund, told the Hanoi event “New Investments amid New Volatility.

They reckon that now should be a good time for investors to collect a portfolio of shares but caution is needed, he added.

Also mentioning caution, Le Duc Khanh, director of analysis at VPS Securities JSC, said that current interest rates in Vietnam are still high, so it would be difficult for the Vietnamese stock market to lure as much investment capital as it did in 2020 and 2021.

He added that the market is forecast to grow during the first half of the year, together with some light fluctuations.

“This is the time for individual stocks with their own stories, which other experts have already mentioned like stocks in the areas of construction, public investment, and banking…In short, I feel 2023 will be a year better than last year, and there are still opportunities for investors,” Khanh said.

Regarding the gold channel, Tong Quoc Dat, senior market analyst at Exness, said despite the precious metal’s recent fluctuations, gold still serves as a stable and safe investment, and some experts see the first quarter of 2023 as a good time to invest in gold.

“They believe gold will continue to be a safe-haven asset throughout the year and hold its value,” he said.

As for the real estate market this year, economist Nguyen Tri Hieu said developers with healthy financial conditions will continue to observe with a wait-and-see attitude. Hieu said he expected the market to recover in the second half of this year following the government’s measures to remove woes.

For the forex market, he said it is hard to forecast. The U.S. dollar may continue to appreciate, causing the Vietnamese dong to depreciate more. Therefore, the State Bank of Vietnam will probably accept this depreciation, but to what extent is still unknown.

In brief, Hieu said he did not see any very effective new investment channels at this point in time. Therefore, investors should focus on improving and restructuring their portfolios this year instead of expanding their investments.