Vayupak 2 proposed for mass-transit lines
MFC Asset Management will propose the setting up of a Vayupak Fund 2 as an option to lower the financial burden of mass-transit construction.
MFC president Pichit Akrathit will put the idea to newly appointed Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn "within a week or two". Pichit, a financial adviser to the former Thaksin government and former member of the Mass-Transit Committee, explained that a Vayupak Fund 2 could be structured like the Vayupak Fund 1 or made more flexible. Such a fund would not only help the Finance Ministry increase efficiency in investment management, but also widen the number of investors, he said. Vayupak 1, set up during the Thaksin administration, is now the country's largest fund, with Bt100 billion invested in stocks formerly held by the Finance Ministry. Pichit said a Vayupak 2 could be made more flexible, in order to allow the fund manager to trade some overvalued stocks or those with low trading liquidity for more suitable stocks over time. Meanwhile, MFC will launch its hospitality fund in the next two or three months. The Bt8-billion fund, which will invest in five or six hotels in places like Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya, was earlier postponed, because of the Bank of Thailand's 30-per-cent reserve-requirement measure. The central bank has now relaxed the measure by exempting capital inflows for mutual funds as long as the investments are fully hedged. However, hedging is expected to add 0.8-1 per cent to the cost, and MFC plans to negotiate with the sellers of the underlying assets and ask them to lower their asset prices; otherwise, yields from the fund may be too low. Separately, ING Funds (Thailand) will launch its sixth property fund next month, in which the underlying assets will be Major Cineplex and its rental spaces. Managing director Maris Tarab shrugged off the additional costs of hedging and said he believed returns from the Bt2.2-billion fund would be high enough to offset the cost. Golden Land Property Development is also planning to launch a property fund next month, with Mayfair Marriott properties as underlying assets. The plan is subject to approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Piyarat Setthasiriphaiboon The Nation
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