Merrill Lynch estimates that $1 billion of capital has already been raised by Vietnam country funds in 2006 and expects another $1 billion by the end of the year (see table at end of story).
The latest manager on the road is Saigon-based PXP Vietnam Asset Management (PXP), which aims to close its third fund, Vietnam Lotus Fund, by the end of November. PXP is targeting $100 million to add to the $115 million it already manages and is likely to get commitments well above that.
“We haven’t asked for any commitments yet,” says Kevin Snowball, director and co-founder of PXP, “but we’re pretty sure we’ll be fully committed.”
Rapid market growth
That is not surprising given the speed with which Vietnam’s domestic stock market has moved. From a capitalization of some $500 million at the start of 2006, the market is now at about $3.3 billion and has increased more than 82% in the 12 months to September. By comparison, PXP’s flagship Vietnam Fund increased 90.11% over the same period.
Most practitioners expect the value of the market to have grown to as much as $5 billion by the year-end.