The Thai funds on the list are TMB Asset Management’s Global Income Fund with net sales of $2.02bn in 2017, while Kasikorn Asset Management’s K SF Plus Fund had $1.82bn in net sales.
The TMB Global Income Fund, launched in May 2017, is a feeder fund that invests into Pimco’s GIS Income Fund, Yoon Ng, Broadridge’s Singapore-based director for Asia global market intelligence, noted in the report.
“This affirms the solid potential of the Thai mutual fund market that foreign asset managers are increasingly tapping into.”
Ng told FSA that total assets in foreign investment funds in Thailand increased 40% to $35bn in 2017 from $25bn in 2016.
“The number of funds has also increased to 590 from 469 as managers look to tap into the rising demand from Thai investors for overseas exposure.”
Barbara Ferraresi, Broadridge’s Singapore-based product manager, also noted that bond funds have become very popular in Thailand, with their AUM rising to $37bn in 2017 from $13bn in 2013.
In September last year, The Bank of Thailand (BoT) relaxed rules on offshore investment. It raised the ceiling for offshore investments to $100bn from $75bn for domestic firms that want offshore exposure.
At the time, overseas investment had not reached the $75bn cap, but the new investment limit boosts Thailand’s Securities Exchange Commission’s flexibility in managing the amount of investment quotas requested by fund and securities firms to invest overseas.
Top 10 best-selling new Asia-domiciled funds in 2017
| Fund name |
Manager |
Asset class | Domicile |
Estimated net sales ($bn) |
| ABC-CA Jinsui Pure Bond Fund | ABC-CA Fund Management | Fixed income | China | 11.95 |
| BOC International AnJin Bond Fund | BOC International China (Investment Management) | Fixed income | China | 5.96 |
| Rheos Hifumi Plus | Rheos Capital Works | Equity | Japan | 2.52 |
| ICICI Prudential Balanced Fund | ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund | Mixed asset | India | 2.47 |
| HDFC Prudence Fund | HDFC Mutual Fund | Mixed asset | India | 2.43 |
| Nomura India Equity Investment | Nomura Asset Management | Equity | Japan | 2.38 |
| Vanguard Global Aggregate Bond Index (Hedged) | Vanguard | Fixed income | Australia | 2.09 |
| TMB Global Income | TMB Asset Management | Fixed income | Thailand | 2.02 |
| K SF Plus | Kasikorn Asset Management | Fixed income | Thailand | 1.82 |
| HSBC Asia High Income Bond Fund | HSBC Global Asset Management | Fixed income | Hong Kong | 1.69 |
Source: Broadridge Financial. Note: Data is for Asia-domiciled funds and excludes money-market funds, fund of funds and ETFs.
China funds seeded
Chinese renminbi-denominated bond funds showed the strongest net sales for new fund launched in 2017. Their combined net sales of $17.91bn account for half of the top ten total.
However, Broadridge noted in the report that they distort the market snapshot as they consist largely of seed money and institutional funding. According to Ng, it will be a 50:50 split between internal seed money and another institutional investor.
“With the CSRC tightening rules around such single investor funds, the top sales league table will look very different in 2018. What is clear is the influence that China has on sales as its sheer size dwarfs other Asian markets,” Ng said.
The rest of the top 10 best selling funds in the region came from Japan, India and Australia. Net sales for the Rheos Hifumi Plus Fund in Japan were largely driven by institutions, including sovereign wealth funds and Japanese corporate pension funds,.
In India, by comparison, flows into the two India balanced funds were driven by retail investors, largely on the back of a dividend play, according to Ng.
Vanguard’s Global Aggregate Bond Index (Hedged) Fund in Australia was launched the latest – in July – but still made it on the list, the report noted.
HSBC Global Asset Management’s Asia High Income Bond Fund, which was launched in February in Hong Kong, had $1.69bn in net sales.
Top 10 firms
Broadridge also provided data for the top 10 fund management firms that had the highest net sales for their funds that are domiciled in the region.
Four of them came from China. Amundi’s joint venture, ABC-CA Fund Management, topped the list with net sales of $11.76bn. Second was India’s Aditya Birla Mutual Fund and Japan’s AM One, according to the report. Only one firm is a non-regional asset management firm, which is UK-based M&G Prudential.
Ng noted that M&G Prudential includes ICICI Prudential in India and Eastspring Investments in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Highest firm AUM in 2017
| Firm group | Country | Net sales ($bn) |
| ABC-CA Fund Management | China | 11.76 |
| Aditya Birla Mutual Fund | India | 6.05 |
| AM One | Japan | 5.8 |
| M&G Prudential | UK | 5.45 |
| Sumitomo Group | Japan | 5.05 |
| Housing Development | India | 4.99 |
| BOC International | China | 4.65 |
| Maxwealth Fund | China | 3.99 |
| Kotak Group | India | 3.83 |
| Industrial Securities | China | 3.28 |
