US property investment fund planned

Saigon Securities Inc plans to raise a fund in Viet Nam to invest in the US real estate market, according to a company official.

Chairman Nguyen Duy Hung said preparations were under way and he expected the fund to have fewer than 10 members.

"It will be experimental; therefore we target a scale of around US$20 million," he told Viet Nam News during his company’s recent ninth anniversary ceremony, where SSI also unveiled its new logo symbolising the Cuu Long (nine dragons), or Mekong River.

Beginning operations in 2000 with a charter capital of VND6 billion ($333,000), the SSI has since expanded its capital to more than VND1.5 trillion, the biggest of any securities company in Viet Nam.

Its activities have also expanded to include investment banking, fund management, investment, and research services.

It holds 15 per cent of the HCM City securities market and 7 percent of the Ha Noi market.

Forty per cent of foreign investors in Viet Nam have accounts with the firm.

Earlier this month it received the Best Broker in Vietnam 2009 and Best Equity House in Vietnam 2009 awards from the Hong Kong-based magazine, FinanceAsia.

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