SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - UOB Asset Management (UOBAM) announced on Monday (Jan 18) that it has completed the acquisition of VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company first reported over a year ago, in a move that will rev up its presence in Asean.
The entity will be renamed UOB Asset Management (Vietnam) Fund Management Joint Stock Company, subject to regulatory approval.
It was earlier announced in December 2019 that the Vietnam firm was acquired for a cash consideration of 113.68 billion dong (S$6.7 million). As at Oct 31, 2019, its net asset value was about 26 billion dong and it had assets under management of around 114 billion dong.
Founded in 2009, VAM Vietnam Fund Management Joint Stock Company provides investment management advisory and services to institutional and individual investors through solutions such as corporate structured funds and segregated accounts, or portfolios managed on a discretionary basis.
According to UOBAM's analysis, Vietnam's onshore mutual funds saw a compounded annual growth rate of more than 75 per cent in assets under management from 2016 to end-September 2020.
On the completion of the deal, Thio Boon Kiat, group chief executive officer (CEO) of UOBAM, referred to Vietnam as a "rising star in Asean".
"The expertise of our new Vietnam office will also complement our broader strategies in Asean equity and fixed income funds and investment mandates, enriching our product offering for investors and creating more collaboration opportunities with partners across Asia," he said.
Thieu Thi Nhat Le, CEO of UOBAM's new Vietnam subsidiary, said that their goal is to "become one of the leading asset management firms in Vietnam within the next five years".
With the latest addition of Vietnam to its regional network, UOBAM is now in nine markets across Asia, namely Brunei, mainland China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. As at Dec 31, 2020, UOBAM and its subsidiaries manage about $35.6 billion in clients' assets.
UOB's expansion in Vietnam underscores the country's growing importance to the bank.
Late last year, UOB secured more than $3 billion of foreign direct investment into Vietnam in alliance with Vietnam's Foreign Investment Agency, and is facilitating an additional pipeline of more than $1.5 billion under an expanded memorandum of understanding.
