VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund - Vietnam carves its own post-COVID niche

VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) has continued to perform well in NAV terms amid an increase in global market volatility, building on strong returns in 2021 (sterling NAV total return of 37.9% in 2021, ahead of the 32.6% return by the benchmark VN Index), although its share price has lagged the market as geopolitical fears have weighed on sentiment, causing the discount to NAV to widen materially. Although many commentators expect high energy prices, US monetary tightening and a potentially stronger dollar to put pressure on developing markets in the year ahead, VOF’s management team points to Vietnam’s favourable macro backdrop, moderate valuations and potential upgrade from frontier to emerging market status (which they say has typically driven gains of up to 50% in comparable situations) as reasons for continued optimism.