HÀ NỘI — The Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited (VEIL) announced it has been inducted into the FTSE 250 Index under the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

"We are extremely pleased to be the first Vietnamese focused investment company to warrant inclusion into the FTSE 250,” Dominic Scriven, executive chairman of Dragon Capital, said in a statement.

“Since moving on to the London Stock Exchange in July 2016, VEIL has gone from strength to strength, benefitting from the strong underlying economic fundamentals of the Vietnamese economy and a highly rigorous investment approach,” he said.

“VEIL’s inclusion in the FTSE 250 should help build on the progress we have made to narrow VEIL’s discount to NAV as a higher profile investment company."

FTSE 250 Index includes 250 stocks that are traded on the LSE with total market capitalisation of 385.52 billion pounds (US$501 billion).

The decision on VEIL’s inclusion in the FTSE 250 Index came into effect on July 18. On July 5, 2016, VEIL was admitted to the LSE – a step that was expected to raise trading liquidity and transparency for the fund certificates.

Launched in 1995, VEIL is a closed-ended, focusing on Việt Nam’s listed and pre-IPO companies in the country that offer attractive growth and value metrics and strong corporate governance.

The fund started with initial value of $12 million. According to the latest announcement, at close of business on July 17, VEIL’s unaudited net asset value reached $1.2 billion, or $5.49 per share.

The top 10 Vietnamese firms in VEIL’s portfolio included dairy producer Vinamilk, phone and accessory distributor Mobile World Corporation (MWG), information-technology FPT Corporation and steel producer Hòa Phát Group, as well as aviation company Vietjet Air and PetroVietnam Gas Corporation.

The value of investment in Vinamilk occupies 12.5 per cent of VEIL’s net asset value, followed by MWG (7.62 per cent), Military Bank (6.9 per cent) and Asia Commercial Bank (5.87 per cent). Total investment in the top 10 Vietnamese companies is equal to 58.6 per cent of the fund’s net asset value. — VNS