VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF) is a long-established, UK 250 index constituent that offers an actively managed, high-conviction exposure to Vietnam’s structural growth story via a blend of listed equities and private equity through a privately negotiated approach. VOF has a blend of listed equities and private equity through a privately negotiated approach. The fund pays semi-annual dividends targeting around 2% of NAV per year, as well as share buybacks.

Here are four key reasons why VOF represents an exciting investment case.

1. Vietnamese economy maintains its momentum.

Vietnam’s economic growth remains intact, underpinned by several secular drivers such as high foreign direct investment, favourable demographics, robust growth in exports and the government’s pro-growth policies. The country exhibits sustained low level of factory wages compared to China and former Asian tigers such as Thailand and Malaysia. The Vietnamese government’s pro-growth, capitalistic mindset and a drive towards domestic reforms are illustrated by its new agenda aimed at streamlining the government, boosting capabilities of the private sector, pursuing ambitious tech sector targets and fostering aggressive infrastructure roll-out. VOF estimates that these reforms should add around two percentage points to Vietnam’s current GDP growth of around 6–7% per year in the coming years. Solid economic progress has recently been achieved at a modest inflation rate, aided by low inflationary pressure in China.

2. Vietnam is a stock market progressing towards emerging market status.

Vietnam’s story is a combination of strong economic growth driven by secular themes and a stock market that is not well penetrated by foreign capital. This creates both inefficiencies and the potential for re-rating if foreign participation increases. A pick-up in foreign capital inflows is likely in the coming years as Vietnam is to be upgraded to an emerging market by FTSE Russell in 2026, with the potential for a similar upgrade by MSCI a few years later.

3. The fund’s portfolio is positioned towards Vietnam’s secular growth drivers.

Investors in VOF gain exposure to a market driven by rising domestic incomes, urbanisation and infrastructure, as well as global themes such as supply-chain diversification and the growth of outsourced manufacturing. These drivers are expressed clearly in sectors such as banking, real estate, industrials, logistics, technology services, healthcare services and consumer brands – all areas of focus of the fund. The fund has delivered a long-term NAV total return performance that is largely in line with the broader Vietnamese market.

4. The fund’s differentiator is its private equity mindset.

VOF’s investment manager operates under the assumption that many investments in Vietnam, whether public or private equity, are illiquid for large ticket sizes, which is taken into consideration when structuring a deal. It therefore always invests with a multi-year horizon in mind. It invests in private companies as well as publicly quoted stocks but usually acquires a meaningful stake 5–40% and negotiates private terms of investment. While the private terms expire over time and some parts of the fund’s public investments no longer hold preferential rights, it is worth noting that around 80% of its current portfolio was entered into through a privately negotiated approach, illustrating its strong contribution to the fund’s deal sourcing.

VOF tries to secure terms that allow negotiations with the sponsor for a path to exit as a protection from the risk of weak business results, or against some deficiencies in governance or best practices. At the same time, the manager highlights that since inception only a single-digit percentage of investments (by count) has been triggered by such events, which we attribute to VOF’s thorough due diligence practices.

Published 15 January 2026