Total net assets of foreign investment funds (FIFs), which are foreign funds sold through a master agent in Thailand, dropped by 4.7% from the end of 2017, Morningstar said.
For the first half, FIFs across all asset classes had a net outflow of THB 14.3bn ($430m).
The outflows were led by Pimco’s Global Bond Fund InstI USD Acc, which lost 40% of assets or THB 43.7bn ($1.3bn), according to Chayanee Juengmanon, senior research analyst at Morningstar Thailand.
The top three Thai master agents who distribute the Pimco fund in a local wrapper are TMB Asset Management, Krungsri Asset Management, and UOB Asset Management (Thailand).
Blackrock is the only firm among the top five foreign firms in Thailand that had positive asset growth in Q2. About THB 9.5bn flowed into its equity fund focused on Asia-Pacific ex-Japan, Juengmanon said.
Despite outflows, the Pimco fund remains the top FIF, with about THB 90bn in assets or a 19% marketshare, Morningstar said.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index hit an all-time high in the first quarter and then declined to the lowest point of 2018 in June, the report said.
“Investors took this as an opportunity for equity investment as we saw more inflow into equity, indicated by the top inflow [into] equity large cap: THB 59.1bn, unprecedently high for the first half of year period.”
“Interestingly, although most of returns on equity categories are negative (1H18), investors are still confident in foreign equity markets as we saw the top five net inflows are all into equity,” the firm said.
Total net assets of Thailand’s fund industry were THB 4.93trn at the end of June, down 1.67% from the end of 2017, the firm said.
