[RastaMan]

I don't even know if a Vietnamese index fund exists.
Anyway, if it doesn't exist, how to invest in the Vietnam stock exchange? I did a google search, but couldn't find anything but a few E-mails of banks in Vietnam.
How could I invest in a Vietnam index fund while being based in HK?

[freeier]

don't think there is an index fund in vietnam yet.
the closest i get is a listed close end fund in UK called the Vietnam opportunity fund (think there is another one). but its trading at a high premium to the NAV.

[Mat]

I don't think you want to take the risk to trade in Vietnam.
It is safer to go to Macao and do a blackjack...

[beachball]

Things like the Vietnam Opportunity fund are not traded in Vietnam - Vietnam Opportunity is listed on AIM in London and there is another fund (IndoChine, I believe) that is listed on the main board of the LSE. Of course, all/most of their investments are in Vietnam...
Interesting tidbit: Appears the Vietnam Opportunity fund has more liquidity than the entire Vietnamese stock market - presumably one of the reasons for investors piling in and driving up the premium to NAV.

[freeier]

i am not sure how true is the last post. the VOF has around 600mil USD NAV i think. and vietnam exchange has certainly surpassed that recently.

but on the other hand, VOF is allowed to invest into unlisted companies as well as real estates, so yes, it is hot money going into vietnam, but its not as 'hot' as that.

most foreign banks and funds do not have sufficient quota to trade in vietnam yes, that's the main reason why we have so few funds on vietnam.

anyway i think 10 years ago we were saying the same thing about china, and look what we are seeing in china now. so for some pocket change, my view is its worth a bet for the long term (i.e. 10~20 years)

[cendrillon]

Why don't you ever say anything constructive Mat?

Originally Posted by Mat

I don't think you want to take the risk to trade in Vietnam.
It is safer to go to Macao and do a blackjack...

[Mat]

Advising him not to trade in Vietnam is something constructive.
Obviously (tru his postings), Rasta is still very much learning about investment.
Hence I would not advise him to go to the vietnamese market.

[cendrillon]

Good point, I guess what I'm saying is, in addition to advising him not to invest in Vietnam, perhaps you could suggest an alternative, or a way for him to learn more about investing such that he can pick his own investments.

For example, I'd recommend to anyone getting into investing to read 'The Warren Buffet Way', it's an excellent introduction to value investing.

[beachball]

Originally Posted by Mat

<SNIP>
Obviously (tru his postings), Rasta is still very much learning about investment.
Hence I would not advise him to go to the vietnamese market.

That does not sound like a good reason to me - what does not knowing very much about investment have to do with taking on exposure to particular markets (like Vietnam)?

[beachball]

Originally Posted by freeier

i am not sure how true is the last post. the VOF has around 600mil USD NAV i think. and vietnam exchange has certainly surpassed that recently.

Note that I was commenting on liquidity, not market capitalization. One good measure of liquidity is trading volume.

I am away from my Bloomberg at the moment, but from a quick web search the daily trading volume of the Stock Exchange in HCMC seems to be around USD10 to 20 million (as per
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortu...481/index.htm), although this is rising quickly (I have seen numbers in excess of USD50 million (definitions not always comparable, sometimes including bonds and certificates) - http://www.thanhniennews.com/busines...2&newsid=24063 or http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2006/11/635679/). On the other hand it appears that historical volumes have been well below USD10 million per day (e.g., http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2006/02/543186/).
In comparison, VOF.LN had daily trading volumes of USD1X million per day from the beginning of November 2006 to the end of January 2007 (before the LNY dip) (based on around 4 million shares/units per day at an average price of USD3.00 to 3.50).
So broadly speaking, liquidity for VOF.LN appears to be indeed close to (if not higher) than for the entire stock market (albeit probably nor for long given the rate at which the public market in Vietnam is growing).