Speakers at the conference on "Managing investments in a flexible environment" on Thursday morning. Photo courtesy of the organiser

HÀ NỘI — The development of technology and new segments is creating new investment products, giving Vietnamese investors more choices besides traditional channels such as securities, real estate, gold or currency. However, more challenges are emerging, forcing retail investors to be more professional to avoid risks. 

The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and China's zero COVID policy have triggered soaring prices of fossil fuels, disruptions in supply chains and rising inflation, negatively affecting global and domestic business activities. Many investment channels have become riskier. 

On the international market, the S&P 500 posted its worst first half since 1970, while DowJones had its biggest drop since 1962.

In the domestic market, the benchmark VN-Index fell quickly in the second quarter with a decline of over 20 per cent compared to the peak set in early April. Most other investment channels such as cryptocurrencies, gold, bonds, and real estate also witnessed strong fluctuations forwarding the downside and lower liquidity.

These investment channels are under great pressure from inflation, as well as geopolitical and economic uncertainties, Lê Xuân Nghĩa, an economic expert, said at a conference on "Managing investments in a flexible environment" launched by Vietnam Investment Review on Thursday morning. The downtrend also reflects the rapid development of these investment channels, especially securities and real estate, he added. 

However, there are still opportunities for retail and organisation investors, Lê Trọng Minh, editor-in-chief of Vietnam Investment Review, said at the event. 

"Despite the general downside risks of most assets, the local derivatives market is more exciting than ever with a trading value up to VNĐ50 trillion in some sessions," Minh said.

"On the stock market, although the trading volume decreased, the trading value still fluctuated around the threshold of VNĐ10 trillion a session, much higher than that pre-pandemic."

Speaking about the main growth momentum of the stock market in the second half of 2022, Trần Đức Anh, head of Macro Research and Investment Strategy at KB Securities Vietnam, said that in the economy's resistance against rising pressure from external factors, the profit growth of listed companies will be a driving force.

"We expect the market will soon enter a short-term recovery in the third quarter, reacting to positive macro indicators and the second quarter's business results season," said Đức Anh. 

Trịnh Ngọc Đức, chairman of D.lion Media and Solutions, shared a similar perspective. "New investment opportunities will always appear in both the bear and bull market," he said. 

Regarding the real estate segment, Nguyễn Văn Ngọc, chairman of the board of RB Group, assessed that many challenges and difficulties remain in the market in the next six months and 2023, after growing too fast in the last two years. 

This will affect investors who have bought assets recently, especially short-term investors, or speculators.

However, he still saw positive points in the market in the medium and long term. With the development of technology and online payments, especially during the pandemic, it is time for personal investment channels. 

Besides traditional investment channels such as real estate, securities, bonds, gold and foreign currencies, the market has developed many new investment channels.

Regarding new investment channels, the head of D.lion Media and Solutions said that the development of new channels comes along with the emergence of information, of which investors have to verify accuracy and reliability.

"This is also a big challenge for businesses developing products related to the financial sector and blockchain," he said.

With the boom of media channels, investors who use traditional investment channels or new ones not only need to gain enough skills and knowledge, but also have to choose reliable information sources before making any investment decisions. — VNS