UOBAM Malaysia launches Vietnam equity fund for retail investors

UOB Asset Management (UOBAM) Malaysia has launched its United Vietnam Equity Fund, which provides local retail investors with access to the equity market in Vietnam, one of Southeast Asia’s leading manufacturing hubs.

Singapore-headquartered United Overseas Bank (UOB) is a leading region lender whose ecosystem includes UOB Asset Management Ltd., an asset management group with a presence in Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

UOBAM Malaysia said the United Vietnam Equity Fund, shortly called UVEF, is suitable for retail investors with long-term investment horizons.

The Malaysia-based firm added that the UOBAM Vietnam team located at its Ho Chi Minh City office will jointly support investors.

HCMC is where UOB Vietnam, a subsidiary of UOB, is headquartered. UOB is doubling down on its acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer banking businesses in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, winning two million clients from the buyout that has significantly boosted its retail banking.

According to UOBAM Malaysia, UVEF seeks to achieve its objectives by investing a minimum of 90% of the fund’s net asset value (NAV) in an existing UOBAM Malaysia target fund named United Vietnam Equity Fund. The remaining 10% is invested in liquid assets, which include money-market instruments and deposits.

The operational target fund invests primarily in equity and equity-related securities of corporations and other entities listed, located, incorporated or having significant business operations or assets in Vietnam. All investment decisions are made at the target fund level by its manager – UOBAM.

UVEF is already available for subscription at selected distributors in both domestic and foreign currencies with an initial minimum investment of $1,000 or 1,000 Malaysian ringgits, according to the UOBAM Malaysia website.

The website also shows that the new fund started transactions on May 22. Its distributors include UOB, Alliance Bank, Alliance Islamic Bank, CIMB Bank, Maybank, AmBank Group, AmBank Islamic, HSBC, HSBC Amanah, and Affin Bank.