From January 1 to March 31, 2019, the VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by almost 9.9 per cent to 980.76 points. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s benchmark VN-Index grew beyond expectations in the first quarter of 2019, but a number of investment funds were unable to outperform the benchmark in the same period.

From January 1 to March 31, 2019, the VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by almost 9.9 per cent to 980.76 points.

The VN-Index’s March-ending level was almost equal to the modest forecast for 2019. According to VNĐirect Securities Corp, the VN-Index may end 2019 at 990 points while other companies predict the benchmark to close the year at above 1,000 points.

After reaching its all-time peak of 1,204.33 points on April 9, 2018, the VN-Index fell roughly 25.9 per cent in the remaining days of last year.

Statistics displayed by the news site cafef.vn on Friday showed only three investment funds were able to beat the growth of the VN-Index.

FTSE Vietnam ETF recorded the highest Q1 net asset value/share (NAV/share) growth rate among all investment funds, which was 12.8 per cent. It was followed by VNM ETF and Tundra, which gained 11.8 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively.

Among the funds that were defeated by the VN-Index, Vietnam Holding made no progress. Other funds with low NAV/share growth rates were Pyn Elite Fund (2.2 per cent), VOF VinaCapital (2.6 per cent) and VEIL Dragon Capital (3.2 per cent).

Passion Investment (PIF) and Hestia recorded NAV/share growth rates of 3.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent in the first quarter, respectively. Other funds with low NAV/share growth rates included Thiên Việt Asset Management’s TVGF and TVGF2 with 5.4 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively.

Việt Nam’s largest domestic fund VFVMVN30 ETF, which focuses on the 30 largest stocks by market capitalisation on HoSE, gained 5.5 per cent.

SSIAM VNX50 ETF nearly beat the VN-Index with a growth rate of 8.8 per cent.

Modest gains for bond-focused funds

Bond-focused funds had an average growth rate of 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2019.

The largest bond-focused fund by value Techcom Bond Fund (TCBF) with net asset value of more than VNĐ8 trillion saw its NAV/share grow 1.8 per cent in the first quarter.

SSI Bond Fund (SSIBF) had the lowest growth rate of 1.5 per cent among all bond-focused funds.

Vietinbank Capital’s VTBF had the highest NAV/share growth rate of 2.3 per cent. Other bond-focused funds with growth rates of more than 2 per cent were VinaCapital’s VFF VinaWealth (2.05 per cent), VietFund Management’s VFMVFB (2.1 per cent) and Bảo Việt Fund’s BVBF (2.2 per cent). — VNS