Malaysia’s Hong Leong Group has launched its second Vietnam-focused fund to invest in listed and over-the-counter companies in the finance, banking, and real estate sectors.
Last week’s launch of the Hong Leong Vietnam Strategic Fund (HLVSF) follows the success of the HLG Vietnam Fund, a wholesale fund launched in 2008 that is available only to qualified investors.
HLG Asset Management Sdn Bhd, a group member company, is the external investment manager for HLVSF while Ho Chi Minh City-based fund manager Vietnam Asset Management Ltd (VAM) is its investment adviser.
Ninety percent of the investment will be made in listed companies and the remaining 10 percent in over-the-counter companies, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon Online (Saigon Economic Times Online) newspaper reported.
The new fund, offered to retail investors in Malaysia, hopes to raise US$31 million in one month after its debut.
It has achieved 40 percent of the target in the first week since launch.
Nguyen Xuan Minh, VAM’s chief executive officer and chief investment officer, said the firm is targeting listed stocks in the financial, banking, real estate, construction materials, port operation, aquatic processing, and pharmaceutical sectors.
Malaysian conglomerate HLG has business interests in banking and financial services, manufacturing and distribution, real estate, and hospitality in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Its HLG Vietnam Fund, also managed by VAM, has posted a 44 percent increase in net asset value as of March 2010 following two years of operation.
HLG also runs a wholly-owned commercial bank in Vietnam which opened in HCMC last October.