The upgrade provides greater scope for the market to deepen connections with international financial institutions, while also raising requirements for market quality and the investor base.

Against this backdrop, Vietnam's fund management industry has significant room for growth. The country currently has 43 fund management companies and 141 securities investment funds. Including entrusted investment portfolios, total assets under management by fund management companies stand at about VND846 trillion dong ($32.52 billion).

The figures show that the fund industry has established a certain foundation, but its scale remains well below its longer-term target.

At a conference titled "The fund industry in the new era: Unlocking capital flows for high and sustainable growth", FiinGroup said the total net asset value of 141 securities investment funds stood at nearly VND92.66 trillion ($3.56 million) at the end of June 2026, equivalent to nearly 0.7% of GDP.

Of these, 80 open-ended funds managed about VND56 trillion ($2.15 billion), 20 ETFs managed about VND24 trillion ($922.54 million), and 40 member funds and closed-end funds managed about VND12 trillion ($461.27 million). A real estate investment fund had net assets of about VND53.3 billion ($2.05 million).

The industry's NAV has increased about 2.8 times since 2019. However, to reach a target equivalent to 5% of GDP by 2030, the figure would need to rise to about VND858 trillion ($32.98 billion), according to FiinGroup's calculations, meaning net assets would have to increase more than ninefold in the coming years.

Fund industry needs to change its approach

One of the industry's biggest bottlenecks is the size of its investor base. Vietnam currently has more than 700,000 investors holding fund certificates. To reach a target of about 2.5 million investors by 2030, the industry needs to attract nearly 1.8 million more, implying that the investor base would have to expand about 3.6 times.

According to FiinGroup CEO Nguyen Huu Hieu, expanding the investor base needs to go hand in hand with changes in product design and distribution. Instead of focusing on customers with large amounts of capital, funds could lower minimum initial investments, allowing investors to contribute smaller amounts on a regular monthly basis.

Hieu cited international experience showing that in India, people can start investing regularly with the equivalent of about VND80,000-150,000 ($5.8) a month. Lower investment thresholds could help fund products reach a broader range of income groups and gradually build long-term saving habits.

For Vietnam, around 50 million employed people with incomes provide a potential customer base if fund products are designed with low initial investment requirements. The focus, according to views expressed at the conference, should not only be on the amount initially invested but also on developing professional, long-term investment and saving habits.

A digital distribution system is also seen as an important factor. The journey from learning about a product, opening an account, and verifying information to selecting a fund, making regular contributions and monitoring a portfolio needs to be simplified and seamlessly connected. Products could also be distributed through multiple channels, including fund management companies, securities firms, banks, agents and online investment platforms.

This approach could help the fund industry reach more workers with stable incomes who have never participated in the market, while also encouraging some individual investors to shift from short-term trading to long-term accumulation and from making investment decisions themselves to entrusting them to professional institutions.

Upgrade creates more room, but fund industry quality will be key

The market status upgrade creates greater opportunities for Vietnam's fund industry to deepen its connections with international financial markets. However, according to the State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), developing the fund industry should not stop at increasing assets under management but must also go hand in hand with improving the quality of capital flows, governance capabilities, professionalism and the industry's contribution to financial markets and the broader economy.

SSC Chairwoman Vu Thi Chan Phuong said the regulator places particular emphasis on restructuring fund management companies. These companies need to enhance the reputation of fund managers, as the sector requires trust and credibility, while also focusing on investor education.

The SSC also plans to continue improving the legal framework and policy mechanisms to expand room for the fund industry's development, review regulations governing the organization and operations of fund management companies, investment funds, distribution agents and service providers. At the same time, it aims to facilitate the development of a wider range of fund types and investment products suited to people's long-term saving and investment needs.

Governance and risk-control requirements are also becoming more stringent. Fund management companies are required to improve their competitiveness and operating standards, apply science and technology, increase transparency, and uphold professional ethics. In particular, they need to closely control risks related to asset valuation, liquidity, conflicts of interest and the management of investors' assets.

On the product side, the direction is to develop diverse and professional fund products linked to the capital needs of the economy. Products suited to people's long-term saving needs, as well as those capable of connecting capital with areas such as infrastructure, innovation, digital transformation, green growth and sustainable development, are among the areas being considered.

Thus, following the market upgrade, the fund industry's potential lies not only in expanding assets under management but also in building a broader and more professional investor base and creating long-term sources of capital for the economy.

To achieve the target of net assets equivalent to 5% of GDP by 2030, the fund industry will need to simultaneously expand the range of products, increase its investor base, and promote regular investment flows. At the same time, it will need to improve governance, transparency, risk controls, and investor protection.

According to the SSC's direction, the fund industry in the new phase should be viewed not merely as a provider of investment products, but also as a professional institutional investment force capable of pooling capital, converting it into long-term funding and allocating it to the economy. These factors will be important in shaping the industry's growth potential as Vietnam's stock market moves toward a new standard.