Upgrading Vietnam's stock market: Potential and opportunities from open-end fund investment

October 2025 marked an important milestone when FTSE Russell upgraded Vietnam's stock market to the emerging market group. This event took place in the context of impressive economic growth, outstanding corporate profits and still having great room for future development, thereby opening up many opportunities for domestic individual investors.

Great opportunities come with new challenges

The market upgrade creates conditions for Vietnam to attract more stable international capital flows, helping to improve market liquidity and create a new growth platform for many industry groups. When businesses have to be more transparent and improve their governance and competitiveness to grow sustainably, individual investors will also benefit from this. This is considered a good time to start investing, to catch up with the new growth cycle of the market.

Along with the growth opportunities, individual investors also face many practical challenges. The rapid development of the market, along with the increasing diversity of promising industries such as banking, industry, real estate, consumer and private economy , requires investors to have in-depth research capabilities and stock selection becomes significantly more complex, requiring more carefulness than ever.

"Watching the peak, catching the bottom" becomes a potentially risky strategy for individual investors.

The VN-Index increased by nearly 30% in the first 10 months of 2025, with unpredictable adjustments making "buying the top and buying the bottom" a potentially risky strategy for most individual investors. In addition, the limitations in the ability to analyze the market, the time to monitor information and information sources make it difficult for many small investors to participate in investing.

Open-end funds - a solution connecting investors with the market

Faced with that reality, open-end funds are increasingly demonstrating their role as an effective investment channel, helping individual investors grasp market opportunities and better control risks when investing on their own.

Ms. Tran Thi Kim Cuong, General Director of Manulife Investments (Vietnam) shared: " FTSE Russell's upgrade of Vietnam's market has opened up many prospects. It is important that investors need the right tools to participate in the market's great opportunities and go the long way. Open-end funds, with investment resources and systematic risk management strategies from the world's leading financial institutions, will bring a professional market approach, serving the goal of accumulating and increasing investors' assets in the long term ."

Ms. Tran Thi Kim Cuong, General Director of Manulife Investments (Vietnam)

At the talk show "From asset management to financial freedom" organized by Manulife Investments (Vietnam) in mid-November 2025, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Thao, Investment Director of Manulife Investments (Vietnam) commented: " After being upgraded, the Vietnamese market is expected to bring a more attractive growth story compared to other emerging markets in the region and the ability to attract capital flows from foreign investors more stably in the coming years. Along with that, the Government 's goals and reforms on the Vietnamese stock market promise to help the VN-Index conquer the next peaks in the long term. Therefore, investors should maintain a steady and long-term investment strategy instead of waiting for the peak to catch the bottom ."

According to Manulife Investments (Vietnam), in the last 5 years, Manulife open-end funds have achieved an average annual return of 11 - 14% depending on the fund type, demonstrating the effectiveness of professional investment strategies and systematic risk management.

With a regular investment plan in an open-end fund, investors can allocate 10-15% of their monthly income to participate in the fund. This not only helps average the cost of capital over time but also helps investors maintain their mentality during short-term fluctuations.

Ms. Cuong emphasized: " This is the time for individual investors to shift from investing based on emotions to a more systematic method. Open-end funds not only help reduce risks but also reduce the time spent analyzing and monitoring the market daily, thanks to the support of fund management experts. Investing is not only to increase assets but also to achieve peace of mind and freedom in finance and life ."

Manulife Open-End Fund is operated by the global Manulife Financial Group with nearly 140 years of experience in investment and risk management, helping individual investors reduce the pressure of monitoring information or analyzing stocks and choosing investment portfolios. This is also a suitable choice for busy people who want to invest but do not have much time and in-depth knowledge.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nang-hang-thi-truong-chung-khoan-viet-nam-tiem-nang-co-hoi-tu-dau-tu-quy-mo-185251121202846634.htm