Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Matching fund will top B8bn

INVESTING

Matching fund will top B8bn

NUNTAWUN POLKUAMDEE

The Stock Exchange of Thailand will establish an 8.25-billion-baht matching fund to invest in blue-chip and small-cap stocks starting in October.

SET president Patareeya Benjapolchai said the programme would include two components, with the first comprising one or more funds totalling four to five billion baht and including Middle Eastern and other foreign institutional investors as partners.

The second component will be a matching fund set by the SET and local asset management companies.

Up to 10 sub-funds could be established, with five funds sized at around 400 million baht each and investing in the FTSE index. Another five funds of 250 million baht each would focus on small-cap stocks, with the SET providing 100 million in capital in each fund.

''Share prices for many stocks have fallen under their fundamental value. It's a good time for long-term investment right now,'' Mrs Patareeya said, adding that the fund's investment target was for more than one year.

Overall, the SET expects to invest around two billion baht in the programme, with the remaining funds raised from local and international investors.

The matching fund concept mirrors a similar structure used by the Thailand Opportunity Fund, an investment fund managed by the Government Pension Fund, local and foreign investors.

Mrs Patareeya denied that the fund was aimed at propping up the local market, which has fallen more than 21% in value for the year to date.

''Don't call this fund a price support fund. Consider just that it's a good opportunity to invest in some oversold stocks now, and we will be joining with a number of institutional investors in the programme,'' she said.

No comments: