With most
asset classes either losing their sheen or becoming volatile, domestic investors
are in a quandary over where to park their funds.


The stock market is no
longer attractive after the VN-Index fell to 420 from over 1,100 not long ago.


Analysts said with the
Government’s measures to revive the market proving ineffective, investors
remained disheartened.


Nguyen Nhan Nghia, deputy
general director of the BIDV Investment Fund Management Company, said the fall
was mainly due to negative sentiments rather than corporate performance.


"The market is
attractive. This is clear from the fact that foreign investors continue to buy.


"Listed companies are
doing well and so their stocks offer value. Investors can make big profits if
they have a long-term investment strategy," he said.


Individual investors and
companies are also wary of the property market after the bottom recently fell
off it.


Nguyen Dang Son, deputy
director of the Infrastructure Development and Urban Research Institute, said
property prices were down 30 to 50 per cent compared with late last year.


"Prices are likely to
go down for a further month or two because investors are selling properties to
repay bank loans.


"Policies and tools
envisaged to strengthen the market are not yet completely in place.


"If I were an
investor I would not buy property now," he said.


The last major asset class
for retail investors and most popular hedge in times of uncertainty, gold, has
been too volatile in recent times.


Early last week, gold
prices surged by over VND1 million to around VND18.30 million per tael (37.5
grams). A few months earlier it had been at over VND20 million.


Pham Van Tam, head of the
Viet Nam Gold Trading Association’s HCM City branch, said gold prices had
risen 18 per cent in the last three months.


Gold prices always tracked
world markets, he explained.


"Gold investors can
easily make big losses unless they nimbly respond to market fluctuations,"
he said.