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Published on January 3, 2008

The investment-management firm had a relatively good year in 2007, witnessing 37-per-cent growth in total assets under management on the back of its short-term bond and cash funds. Last year's assets under management stood at Bt1.37 trillion, up from Bt1 trillion in 2006, said Jotika.

Most growth stemmed from sales of its series of 24 short-term bond funds, which included TMB Prime Funds, TMB Financial Institutional Fixed Income Funds and TMB Premier Funds, all with tenor ranging from three to six months. The TMB Money Fund, which recently received an "AAA (Tha)/V1+" rating from Fitch Ratings, has contributed Bt41.5 billion, almost doubling the fund's net asset value of Bt24 billion last year.

On the other hand, TMBAM's equity portfolio has not been growing so well. Jotika cited the general lukewarm sentiment, affected by political uncertainty, of the Thai economy. It is thus logical for wary investors to put their money in bond funds, which yield better than regular bank savings and are tax-free.

Riding on the foreign-investment bandwagon, TMBAM reported a total net asset value of Bt3.1 billion for its three foreign-investment funds - all index funds linked to world, emerging-market and Chinese equities. Jotika said there would be at least two more equity country-index funds this year. The fund portfolio would not be complete without long-term investment funds and retirement mutual funds. TMBAM's five such funds netted Bt900 million last year, totalling Bt6.5 billion.

The Nation