• 
• 
• 

Investors who get a headache trying to choose from the hundreds of mutual funds available in Thailand now have a means of getting some relief, as they can seek advice from the fund-analysis team at Phillip Securities (Thailand).

The Fund SuperMart Analyst team provides macroeconomic analysis, asset-allocation suggestions according to each investor's risk appetite and advice on interesting funds, Phillip Securities (Thailand) managing director Suchai Suthasthamkul said yesterday.

The service marks the first mutual-fund analysis team in the country, he said. It provides advice to customers who are interested in funds managed by 21 asset-management companies selling their unit trusts via Phillip's Fund SuperMart service.

With the new service, the company expects its income from being the selling agent for unit trusts will rise to Bt4 billion this year from Bt1.8 billion-Bt1.9 billion last year, while the number of fund investors who invest via the firm expected to double to 4,000.

The mutual-fund selling-agent business continues to grow, as many depositors have shifted their money to mutual funds after deposit rates hit rock-bottom. Moreover, there are a number of new products available in the market, he said.

For its securities brokerage business, Suchai said Phillip had maintained its targeted market share at 3.5 per cent this year, compared with the 3 per cent achieved last year. This is despite the fact that it currently has a market share of 4-5 per cent.

The company's targeted market share of 9 per cent in futures trading has also already been surpassed, but it has no plan to increase the target. Phillip Securities currently has a market share of 11 per cent in Thailand Futures Exchange business.

The company's investment portfolio contributes an annual profit of Bt20 million on average.

Amid the frenzy of merger and acquisitions in the brokerage industry, he said several smaller securities firms had talked with the company, but no progress had been made.

It is the parent firm's policy that the company must be the lead entity following a merger or acquisition and that such action must be a way to help it expand the customer base, he said.