TMBAM Eastspring (TMBAM ES) completed repayments to investors yesterday for all four fixed income funds worth more than 200 billion baht that it closed in March 2020 amidst intense market volatility caused by the pandemic.
TMBAM ES chief executive Adisorn Sermchaiwong said the company made the right decision to close the four funds because it helped protect unitholders' benefits in times of intense volatility that triggered panic-selling in global markets.
"We decided to close the funds to avoid damage. It's the right decision as the closures have helped us to fully repay unitholders at a slightly higher amount than the net asset value on the last trading day," Mr Adisorn said.
"Assets under management of the four funds have also not defaulted on their debts. This reflects our team's ability to select quality assets."
TMBAM ES began gradually rebating liquidated assets from the funds to unitholders over a year ago.
The company disbursed the last instalment of the last fund on Sept 23.
Regarding investment strategy in the fourth quarter, he believes global interest rates are on an uptrend.
Mr Adisorn recommended staying with short-term debt instruments as their yield returns are expected to be in the range of 1-2%, higher than the 0.5% interest rate for deposits.
The global capital markets are expected to be buffeted by the Federal Reserve's tapering of its expansive asset purchases, which TMBAM ES predicts to happen by the end of this year.
He said investors can invest more in medium- and long-term bonds next year.
Foreign bonds such as South Korean government bonds will offer higher yields than local bonds, Mr Adisorn said.
TMBAM ES expects supply in the local bond market to increase from the fourth quarter, with the government the key issuer because the Finance Ministry decided to increase the public debt ceiling from 60% to 70% earlier this week.
He said the increase in money supply will result in higher yield returns and investors need to monitor how the government will channel the funds to stimulate economic growth next year.
Mr Adisorn said TMBAM ES's assets under management are expected to slightly increase by around 10 billion baht to 430 billion this year, partly attributed to a decline in the value of technology and Chinese funds that have suffered various negative impacts during the past 3-6 months.
