New VinaCapital fund to focus on Vietnam's unlisted firms

The leading fund manager aims to boost foreign investment in the UpCom market.

VinaCapital Group, the country's largest fund manager, plans to establish a new fund next month focusing on unlisted companies with a market capitalization of under $50 million.

The VinaCapital Special Access Fund (VSAF) will help foreign players diversify their investment portfolios with the unlisted public company market (UpCom), the group announced at an annual investors meeting on Wednesday.

The initial amount of each investment will be $5 million or more, the group said.

The UpCom market was launched in 2009 and has since expanded at a fast pace, now with 350 companies. Stocks and convertible bonds are traded via continuous order matching and negotiation methods.

Founded in 2003, VinaCapital has a diversified portfolio of $1.3 billion in assets under management. It manages three closed-end funds trading on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange.

Its largest fund Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) has a track record of successful investments in Vietnamese private equity and OTC firms with an average return of up to 25.9 percent over the last three years.