Many open-ended funds posted double-digit returns in 2025 as their longer-term approach proved fruitful.

Vietnam’s stock
market surged over the course of 2025, with the VN-Index climbing nearly 41 per
cent while investment funds maintained stability thanks to long-term strategies
and disciplined risk management. Behind the impressive gains, however, lay a clear
divergence in performance, creating notable challenges for both individual investors
and fund managers. Amid significant short-term pressures, many open-ended funds
still achieved double-digit returns, with markedly lower volatility and risk than
self-directed retail investors.

Standing out

Though the VN-Index
repeatedly set new highs, growth momentum was driven mainly by a handful of large-cap
stocks in the VN30 basket. Meanwhile, more than 46 per cent of listed stocks posted
negative returns. Even companies with solid fundamentals experienced prolonged corrections
due to interest rate pressures, macro-economic conditions, and capital rotation.
Excluding VIC-related stocks, the VN-Index rose by only 10.6 per cent, underscoring
the fact that most investors did not benefit proportionately from the headline index
gains.

Data from Fmarket
shows pronounced performance rotation across investment styles. In 2025, equity
funds with agile strategies and able to rebalance portfolios in line with capital
flows emerged as top performers.

Specifically, several
funds recorded returns exceeding 30 per cent, far outpacing the realized gains of
most individual portfolios. Notable examples include BVFED (36.77 per cent), DCDS
(32.84 per cent), and MAGEF (30.74 per cent). Other strong performers included UVEEF
(24.6 per cent), BMFF (24.51 per cent), VCBF-BCF (22.82 per cent), MBVF (20.84 per
cent), TCGF (18.93 per cent), and EVESG (18.86 per cent). Similarly, Manulife’s
open-ended funds posted a strong year, with the Manulife Equity Fund (MAFEQI) gaining
17.3 per cent.

Funds managed by
UOB Asset Management Vietnam (UOBAM) also delivered positive results in 2025. The
United ESG Vietnam Equity Fund achieved a return of 24.62 per cent, while the United
Vietnam Dynamic Income Fund posted 9.67 per cent.

Fmarket’s five-year
data shows that the top-performing fund group delivered average annual returns of
around 15-22 per cent. Notably, the leaders in long-term performance remain familiar
names, such as VINACAPITAL-VESAF, DCDS, SSI-SCA, BVFED, MAGEF, and VCBF-BCF. According
to Fmarket, this consistency is not coincidental but reflects portfolio management
capabilities, disciplined investment processes, and the ability to adapt across
multiple market cycles.

This underscores
the core nature of open-ended fund investing as a medium to long-term asset allocation
strategy, which proves most effective when investors maintain sufficiently long
holding periods, ideally spanning at least one full economic cycle.

What lies ahead

As 2026 begins,
attention is focused on Vietnam’s roadmap to upgrade its stock market to FTSE Russell’s
Secondary Emerging Market status. This represents not merely a label, but a structural
turning point for capital flows.

According to Mr.
Ngo Thanh Huan, CEO of the FIDT Investment Consulting and Asset Management JSC,
the biggest opportunity does not lie in short-term foreign inflows over a few quarters,
but in a structural transformation of the capital market. Market reclassification
pushes Vietnam closer to international standards on transparency, corporate governance,
institutional investor access, and valuation discipline. This opens the door to
longer-term, passive, and institutional capital, which is typically more stable
and less speculative.

“In other words,
reclassification does not make the market rise faster; it makes the market more
mature,” Mr. Huan emphasized. “The greatest opportunities belong to companies and
investors willing to play by long-term rules, accept discipline, and meet higher
standards. It also lays a solid foundation for attracting large domestic capital
pools, such as insurance companies and voluntary pension schemes, which still have
significant room to grow.”

Mr. Le Thanh Hung,
Chief Investment Officer at UOB Asset Management Vietnam, expects the market upgrade
to be a major catalyst, creating a new foundation for fund operations and sustainable
market development.

According to Mr.
Hung, the key opportunity lies not only in capital inflows but in international
recognition. Reclassification would shift institutional investors’ perspectives
from tactical allocation to strategic allocation. This would incentivize Vietnam
to accelerate reforms, standardize market practices in line with global norms, and
improve the quality of listed companies.

He added that alongside
the opportunities created by market reclassification, Vietnamese companies will
also face more stringent requirements from international institutional investors.
“When accessing large and long-term capital pools, evaluation criteria extend beyond
financial performance to include transparency, governance, and accountability,”
Mr. Hung noted.

Foreign investors
expect Vietnamese companies to enhance disclosure transparency; align financial
reporting more closely with international standards; and use English in reporting
and investor communications. At the same time, companies are expected to improve
corporate governance quality and investor relations practices in line with global
norms.

An equally important
challenge is building long-term trust with institutional investors. Large funds
typically prioritize risk management capabilities and the degree to which companies
honor commitments to shareholders. Maintaining credibility, consistently delivering
on commitments, and acting transparently will be decisive factors in attracting
and retaining long-term capital as the market enters a new stage of development.

“To fully capitalize
on the reclassification opportunity, Vietnam needs to continue removing structural
bottlenecks, such as expanding foreign ownership limits, completing a centralized
clearing counterparty (CCP) mechanism, shortening the settlement cycle to T+0, adopting
international accounting and financial standards, and increasing the supply of high-quality
new products to broaden investment opportunities for foreign institutional investors,
particularly large global funds,” Mr. Hung explained.

Growth alongside
risk control

Investment funds
view Vietnam’s economic outlook in 2026 with cautious optimism. Double-digit growth
targets are ambitious amid ongoing global risks, but remain achievable if policy
execution is sufficiently decisive and domestic growth drivers continue to play
their role. More importantly, growth must not only be rapid but also accompanied
by macro-economic stability and effective risk control to ensure medium and long-term
quality.

In the stock market,
supportive factors seen in 2025, such as accommodative policies, recovering consumption,
and a rebound in international tourism, are expected to continue into 2026.

According to Mr.
Hung, because 2025’s gains were concentrated largely in a small group of large-cap
real estate stocks, overall growth was not broad-based. In the new year, the VN-Index
is unlikely to replicate the previous year’s strong double-digit increase, but this
may be offset by better sectoral breadth, creating a healthier growth foundation
and a more favorable environment for selective, fundamentals-driven investment strategies.

Capital flows in
2026 are expected to remain highly differentiated, rotating among sectors based
on distinct growth narratives. Sectors such as banking, retail, construction materials,
and those benefiting from public investment are still expected to attract capital.
“In addition, companies with strategic roles in the economy and sectors benefiting
from government policies, particularly those related to infrastructure and energy
security, may become destinations for long-term capital,” Mr. Hung said.

Offering recommendations
to investors, Mr. Hung noted that 2026 will require a long-term investment mindset,
avoiding the temptation to chase short-term market fluctuations. Portfolio diversification
to manage risk, along with investing through professional funds to leverage analytical
expertise and risk management capabilities, also represents a prudent approach.

VET-Uyen Van