Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate Corp (HQC) last Thursday told HCM Stock Exchange that the fund had bought six million shares in the company on October 8-9, raising its stakes in Viet Nam to almost 22 million shares, equivalent to 8.34 per cent of its capital. — File Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — PYN Elite Fund (Non-UCITS), managed by Finnish PYN Fund Management Ltd, has been actively buying shares in many real estate companies in Viet Nam with an eye to the future.

Hoang Quan Consulting-Trading-Service Real Estate Corp (HQC) last Thursday told HCM Stock Exchange that the fund had bought six million shares in the company on October 8-9, raising its stakes in Viet Nam to almost 22 million shares, equivalent to 8.34 per cent of its capital.

HQC is among the top 20 biggest real-estate companies on the Vietnamese stock exchange. It has a market value of more than VND1.6 trillion (US$71.4 million).

In the past month, the fund has bought 4.2 million shares in Hoa Binh Construction & Real Estate Corp (HBC), liftingits holding to 7.7 million shares, or 10.3 per cent of the company's capital.

It has also become big shareholders in many property firms, including Thang Long Investment Group (TIG), Duc Long Gia Lai Group (DLG), Construction Investment Corporation 3-2 (C32), Development Investment Construction Co (DIG) and Kinh Bac City Development Share Holding Corp (KBC) with stakes ranging between 5 per cent to 13 per cent.

"PYN Elite fund has defined Viet Nam as its core market for the period 2013-2020," said fund manager Petri Heiskanen in his September report.

The fund's assets under management reached 265 million euro ($303.2 million) by the end of September, of which 80 per cent was in Viet Nam and 11 per cent in China.

The US Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged calmed anxiety in global markets, after which the focus shifted more from speculation back towards fundamentals, Heiskanen wrote in his report.

He said the weakening economic cycle of banking and property sectors had weighted the market sentiment in the Vietnamese stock market, and "as a result, the stock prices are looking very attractive compared to the historical price to book ratios".

Viet Nam's real estate market is picking up, driven by the Government's support policy as well as bright prospects once the Trans Pacific Partnership becomes operational.

According to reports of some securities companies, if TPP takes effect, not only will exports grow but also foreign investment inflows are likely to benefit apartment and office leasing services. — VNS