The Vayupak Fund, a state investment fund, will be offered for public subscription next week, with an annual guaranteed return of 3-9% over its 10-year tenure, and will start investing in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on Oct 1.
Varah Sucharitakul, chairman of Finansia Securities, said Vayupak Fund type A will start purchasing shares on the SET from Oct 1 and investment units will be traded on the bourse on Oct 7, with a guaranteed return of 3-9% annually for 10 years.
Vayupak Fund type A will present an initial public offering during Sept 16-20, by starting with a small lot of 1,000 units with a unit value of 10 baht, for a total of 10,000 baht. Then investors can increase their investment by at least 100 units or 1,000 baht.
Investors can reserve the Vayupak Fund type A through underwriters such as MFC Asset Management, Krungthai Asset Management (KTAM), Bangkok Bank, Krungthai Bank, Bank of Ayudhya, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank and Government Savings Bank.
If there are remaining investment units from general investors, they will be sold to financial institutions on Sept 23.
Mr Varah said investors will receive a return on investment at a rate of 3-9% per year. At the end of the year, dividends will be paid out and the return will be reset in the following year at the same rate of 3-9%.
As of Sept 6, the fund has a total net asset value of nearly 353.6 billion baht and its accumulated profits, as of June 30, totalled 142.7 billion baht, said Chavinda Hanratanakool, chief executive of KTAM.
Originally established on July 1, 2003, the Vayupak Fund was a closed-end mutual fund with a size of 100 billion baht, aimed at managing securities held by the state for maximum returns.
"The fund is currently ready to expand by offering investment units to general investors, with a total value of 100-150 billion baht," said Ms Chavinda, who is also the chairwoman of the Association of Investment Management Companies.
With a focus on long-term and sustainable returns, the fund will invest in businesses that are necessary and beneficial to the country economically, and they usually need promotion from the government.
"The fund promotes and supports the development of the country's capital market, and increases savings and investment options for the people," she noted.
The focus of its investments are stocks with good fundamentals and long-term stability, and businesses that have good corporate governance, such as companies in the SET100 that have received an ESG score of level A or higher, or companies outside of the SET100 that have received a higher ESG ratings score, added Ms Chavinda.