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Published on February 20, 2008

The new funds are expected to include Thailand's first Islamic property fund and a new money-market fund in collaboration with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Chief investment officer Teeraphan Jittalarn said diversification was inevitable following the US Federal Reserve's interest-rate cut and the poor subsequent returns on bonds. New products will also include emerging-market exchange-traded funds, a soft-commodities fund and a Vietnamese fund, to name only a few.

The Bank of Thailand's new foreign-investment rules, which will take effect as early as late next week, will first benefit private fund clients, Teeraphan said.

Although still a small player in the field, KTAM has expanded its private-fund base aggressively in recent years, with 193-per-cent growth last year to Bt1.8 billion. Teeraphan expects this sector's growth to surpass that of others this year.

The sharia property fund will be a natural progression for KTAM, said CEO Somchai Boonnamsiri. The company launched two sharia funds two years ago - a long-term equity fund and a retirement mutual fund - with net asset values of Bt73 billion and Bt14 billion, respectively.

KTAM has been approached by major Islamic funds, but any partnership arrangement will depend upon the lifting of the central bank's 30-per-cent capital reserve, Somchai said.

Ki Nan Tsui

The Nation