PYN Elite, Finland’s best-performing investment fund, is helping to drive a stock rally in Vietnam as it abandons Thailand, where its portfolio achieved annual returns of almost 25% for the past 14 years.
Petri Deryng, who manages 220 million euros (US$285 million) in two funds called Elite and Populus, has sold more than 100 million euros (3.9 billion baht) worth of Thai stocks during the past five months, while investing about 40 million euros in 51 different Vietnamese companies.
The Ho Chi Minh Stock Index has gained 27.4% so far this year, compared with a gain of 19.4% for the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
His holdings in Vietnam include PetroVietnam Drilling and Well Services JSC and Dinh Vu Port Investment & Development JSC.
“Vietnam’s economy will grow faster than Thailand’s economy during the next 10 years,” Deryng said in an e-mail. “As Vietnam’s stock exchange is trading below historical average valuations and Thailand above them, it’s clear that the Vietnamese market has a more attractive growth potential.”
International investors are buying the most Vietnamese stocks in five years, lured by Southeast Asia’s cheapest valuations and government efforts to spur growth.
The country’s benchmark index rose the most in Asia to a 27-month high on May 30.
PYN Elite has had an average annualised return of 23.4% since its 1999 inception, returning more than 18 times the initial capital over 14 years and beating the Bangkok SET Index. It is the top performer among funds domiciled in Finland over the past 10 years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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