The price of the mutual funds, on average, increased by 0.23 per cent, while their net asset value (NAV) rose by 0.83 per cent in the just concluded week over the previous week.
This price gain is significant against a 0.62 per cent positive change in the DSEX, the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in the week.
However, among the 36 closed-end funds, 33 were trading at discounted prices at the prime bourse’s secondary market.
The fund managers have reported the net asset value (NAV) of their closed-ended mutual funds for the week ending on Thursday.
Based on the recently reported NAV and Sunday’s closing prices, the sectoral price to NAV stood at 0.64x, similar to last week’s price to NAV of 0.64x.
In the last week, among all the asset managers, RACE performed the best in terms of the NAV return of its funds, gaining 1.21 per cent during the week, while LR Global stands at the second lowest price/NAV ratio of 0.65x, followed by LR Global, VANGUARD, ICB AMCL, AIMS, SEML, CAPM, VIPB,
and ATCP.
The market capitalisation of 36 funds stood at Tk 3,760 crore, while the asset under management (AUM) of the sector stood at Tk 5,880 crore.
RACE holds the highest market share of 51 per cent with 10 funds and an AUM of Tk 3000 crore. The fund manager has the lowest Price/NAV ratio of 0.53x, while LR Global has the second lowest Price/NAV ratio of 0.65x.
The average daily turnover of the sector stood at Tk 2.71 crore in the last trading week, which was 9.4 per cent lower than the turnover value in the week before.
The closed-end funds registered a portfolio loss of 8.27 per cent in 2022, whereas the broad market declined by 8.14 per cent, according to a study.
The ratio of Bangladesh’s mutual fund assets to its gross domestic product (GDP) is only 0.4 per cent, the lowest among the peer countries, representing the sector’s exponential growth potential, which still remain untapped.
As on July 2022, the assets under management of Bangladesh’s MF industry, operated by 54 asset management companies (AMCs) stood at $1.6 billion, according to IDLC, an investment bank.
The current ratio of mutual fund assets to Bangladesh’s GDP is only 0.4 per cent which is 16.2 per cent in India, followed by 54 per cent in Malaysia, 1.3 per cent in Pakistan, 28.3 per cent in Thailand, 6.6 per cent in Vietnam, 195.7 per cent in the USA, and 180.8 per cent in Canada.
Among the 36 mutual funds, 34 were traded at discounted prices last year. The market capitalisation of 36 funds stood at Tk 37.7 billion, while the assets under management of the sector stood at Tk 57.7 billion, according to the LankaBangla Securities study.
Currently, 354 companies and 36 closed-end mutual funds remain listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange’s main trading board. Except for two funds, the remaining 33 closed-end mutual funds were still trading below their face values yesterday, according to the DSE data.
Only three mutual funds—Prime Finance First Mutual Fund, CAPM IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund, and Grameen One : Scheme Two– traded above or up to their face values.
