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Baht/$ 33.96/02 (Bid/Ask)
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GOLD |
13950
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SOMRUEDI BANCHONGDUANG
ING Funds (Thailand) is interested in purchasing the local property assets of the bankrupt US investment house Lehman Brothers, said managing director Maris Tarab.
Lehman controls commercial properties in Bangkok worth an estimated 50 billion baht, including grade-A properties such as the Italian-Thai Building, Pacific Place on Sukhumvit Road, Mercury Tower and the Muang Thai Phatra Building.
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| Maris Tarab (left), president of ING Funds, and Luecha Sukrasebya, an executive vice-president of TMB Bank, toast the launch of the new TMB Buddy B/E+ LTF yesterday, a long-term equity fund that will invest in equities and bank bills of exchange. PATTARACHAI PREECHAPANICH |
Mr Maris said any investment would be structured through a property fund, but he added that major developers such as Land and Houses could have an advantage in any sale due to their greater liquidity.
ING is the country's largest property fund manager, with assets worth 12 billion baht under its management. The company plans to float another two funds this year with a total investment of 12 billion baht, including a 10-billion-baht hotel fund and a two-billion-baht serviced apartment fund.
Mr Maris said the new funds would boost ING's total assets under management to 220 billion baht by the end of the year.
He said the company's funds had increased their cash holdings in light of current global market turmoil. Bank deposits have doubled in recent weeks to between 10% and 15% of total assets, a shift that Mr Maris said would give fund managers greater flexibility in asset allocation.
ING has also downgraded its outlook for banking shares from overweight to neutral, and is in the process of revising its strategies for its foreign investment funds.
But Mr Maris said he expected the SET to potentially reach 700 points by the end of the year, once financial turmoil in the US eases.
ING yesterday joined with TMB Bank to launch the new TMB Buddy B/E+ LTF, a long-term equity fund also investing in three-month TMB bills of exchange paying 5.5% per year.
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