The universe of Thailand-domiciled mutual funds continued to gather assets in the first half of 2017. The net fund inflows were THB137bn ($4bn) in the period from January till June and a further THB43bn in July, according to data from Morningstar.
The total AUM of Thailand’s mutual funds is now $113bn (THB3.88trn).
The TMB Bank was the most successful asset gatherer, with THB47bn of net new inflows, mostly into its TMB Global Income, which also was the top asset gathering fund in Thailand in the first half of 2017.
Siam Commercial Bank’s SCB Specific Fixed Income Plus Open End Fund gathered THB37bn and its SCB Global Income (a mixed-asset fund launched in January 2017) was third with THB31bn of net new assets.
Fixed income funds led the asset classes with the most new inflows in the first half of 2017.
However, there were some big net outflows, with RMB Thanaplus Fund losing net THB20.6bn and Kasikornbank’s Ruang Khao Fixed-Income Fund losing THB17.2bn.
Net flows into Thailand’s mutual funds
Data: Morningstar, in Thai baht
Fixed term popularity
Thailand’s mutual fund landscape differs from other markets by popularity of fixed-term funds (closed-end funds), open to subscription only at launch and redeemed at maturity, which could be from three months to three years.
Most of the fixed-term funds are fixed-income products, with only 2% of AUM in equity funds in July 2017.
Fixed-term funds today constitute approximately 19% of all mutual funds by AUM, down from 21% in June 2016.
The total AUM of fixed-term funds has declined to THB716bn in July 2017 from the high of THB782bn in February, while open-ended funds continued to grow.
Thailand’s mutual fund AUM
