Trillion-dollar fund interested in Vietnam stocks when upgrading

The market upgrade has created a clear spillover effect, as many foreign investors - from passive index funds to active capital managers - who were previously largely uninterested, have now proactively learned about and exposed to Vietnamese stocks.

Mr. Bui Hoang Hai, Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission - Photo: BTC

The above information was given by Mr. Bui Hoang Hai - Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission - at the workshop "New money, new goods and opportunities in emerging markets" organized by the Vietnam Securities Journalists Club on October 23.

According to Mr. Hai, the Ministry of Finance and the Securities Commission are implementing a comprehensive strategy to take advantage of opportunities from the process of upgrading the stock market.

He said that upgrading is not just a "title crown" but a development milestone, requiring the market to improve its infrastructure, legal system, products and competitiveness to make a real contribution to the economy .

Attracting global capital flows as Vietnam's stock market upgrades

The leaders of the Securities Commission assessed that being upgraded to the "emerging market" group will help Vietnam be considered an "investable market", similar to bonds being upgraded to safe investment status.

According to Mr. Hai, many foreign investors - from passive index funds to active capital managers - were previously largely uninterested but have recently researched and discussed with the committee.

He cited a recent investment conference in Milan (Italy), where a fund managing total assets of more than 18,000 billion USD attended and expressed interest in Vietnam. "In fact, many investors managing capital flows of hundreds to thousands of billions of USD are interested in Vietnamese stocks," Mr. Hai shared.

To take advantage of the opportunity to attract foreign capital, the committee's leaders said they are implementing a series of solutions to support the demand side - that is, the group of foreign investors. Accordingly, the solutions aim to create increasingly favorable conditions for foreign investors.

First of all, the bilingual information disclosure in Vietnamese and English helps international investors access transparent and fair market data. Vietnam has removed the requirement for prefunding, allowing investors to avoid multiple transfers, reducing exchange rate risks when orders are not matched.

The regulator is also facilitating foreign investors to trade directly through global brokers, to shorten the time.

In parallel, the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC) is building an STP system - automatic electronic communication between custodian banks and securities companies, expected to be completed before FTSE Russell's assessment period in March 2026.

In particular, the committee is coordinating with the State Bank and the Ministry of Finance to develop hedging tools to help investors feel secure against foreign exchange fluctuations.

There is still 80 billion USD of foreign "room" left.

One of the major bottlenecks today is the foreign ownership limit (FOL). Mr. Bui Hoang Hai said that the management agency is comprehensively reviewing the regulations on FOL limits.

Vietnam currently has about 80 billion USD in untapped investment "room", and loosening the FOL could significantly expand foreign capital sources.

According to MSCI standards, if the FOL limit affects 1% of the market size, it is considered negative; above 10%, it will be removed from the list. Therefore, dealing with FOL is a mandatory condition if Vietnam wants to go further.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Ha - Acting Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) - said that with the target of double-digit economic growth in the coming period, the domestic and foreign capital flows waiting to enter the market are very large.

This poses an urgent need to upgrade technological infrastructure and product quality in the market.

According to Ms. Ha, HoSE is urgently implementing a plan to upgrade its information technology system to ensure transaction processing capacity, while focusing on improving the quality of listed goods.

"It is important to have more good businesses and high-quality goods participating in the market, thereby meeting the increasingly diverse investment needs of domestic and foreign investors," she emphasized.

Mr. Pham Luu Hung - Chief Economist of SSI Securities Company - said that in order for the market to develop sustainably and become more attractive to foreign investors, it is necessary to soon have preferential tax policies for investment funds, and at the same time perfect the legal corridor so that foreign investors can place trading orders directly through global securities companies.

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BINH KHANH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/quy-quan-ly-nghin-ti-usd-quan-tam-chung-khoan-viet-nam-khi-nang-hang-20251023185409069.htm