Prusik's Manners buys into Vietnam at 'Asian crisis-style valuations'

Prusik IM founder Heather Manners has bought into Vietnam for the first time in her funds' history in the view stocks are trading on Asian crisis-level valuations and could double from here.

Manners opened the positions at the end of last year and is still buying, with a view to taking exposure up to 10%-15% of the Asia and Asia Smaller Companies funds. “The Vietnam stock market has been in a five-year bear market – it looks like an Asian crisis-type decline,” Manners said. The small-cap focused Hanoi index has seen a peak to trough fall of 88% between March 2007 and January 2012, while the main index, the HCM, has fallen 66% from March 2007’s peak to a low in 2009. The currency has also plunged 33% fall between 2008 and 2011. “The currency has declined in value, which...