The mutual fund industry’s assets under management (AUM) surged 23.8% last year, with high-yield bond funds, foreign investment funds (FIFs) and equity funds in demand as investors shunned low deposit rates and fled to risky assets.
The industry’s AUM soared 733 billion baht to 3.8 trillion as of Dec 31.
Of the total, 380 billion baht consisted of fixed-income funds, 243 billion was equity funds, and the rest was for other types such as property funds and real estate investment trusts.
Ekachai Chongvisal, chief executive of the Association of Investment Management Companies, said Kasikorn Asset Management (KAsset) retained its status as the biggest mutual fund firm with total AUM of 873 billion baht.
This was followed by SCB Asset Management (SCBAM) with 792 billion baht and Krungthai Asset Management (KTAM) with 507 billion.
AUM of equity funds excluding long-term equity funds (LTFs), retirement mutual funds (RMFs) and the Vayupak Fund rose by 177 billion baht last year from 138 billion.
Equity funds had a net inflow of 34.6 billion baht in 2014.
KTAM managed the biggest AUM of equity funds with 179 billion baht, followed by MFC Asset Management (175 billion) and KAsset (110 billion).
Total AUM for RMFs reached 167 billion baht last year, up from 137 billion in 2013.
KAsset managed the biggest AUM of RMFs at 45 billion baht, followed by BBL Asset Management (BBLAM) with 40.4 billion and SCBAM with 25.2 billion.
Total AUM for LTFs last year was 271 billion baht, up from 214 billion baht in 2013.
KAsset managed the highest AUM for LTFs at 70.5 billion baht, followed by BBLAM (57.5 billion) and SCBAM (46.6 billion).
Fixed-income funds continued to dominate the industry.
Morningstar Research (Thailand) analst Kittikun Tanapattanakit said high-yield bond funds were the most launched product in 2014, with more than 300 funds in the first half or 34% of funds launched for the year.
From 2013-14, high-yield bond funds saw fund inflows of more than 1 trillion baht.
Another active fund class last year was FIFs, which enjoyed 126% growth in AUM to 79 billion baht.
There were 40 new funds with a total net inflow of 39 billion baht in 2014.
The top investment location was Europe at 13.2 billion baht or 33%, followed by Asia-Pacific excluding Japan with 8.43 billion or 21%.