Ly Xuan Hai's return to banking: nominated to TVS board signals a shift toward investment-banking thinking

Ly Xuan Hai, former CEO of ACB Bank, has been nominated to join the Board of Directors of Thiên Việt Securities (TVS). The move points to a broader shift in how TVS—and potentially the wider market—views value creation, moving beyond a brokerage-led model toward investment-focused thinking.

TVS’s investment-led model and margin lending rebound

For years, TVS has stood out among securities firms. While many companies have pursued market share through brokerage activities, TVS has generated revenue primarily from investments. This approach can be harder to scale quickly, but it may produce stronger profits when risk is managed effectively.

Liquidity and a flexible investment portfolio have supported TVS’s margin lending operations, particularly in 2025. Margin lending generated more than VND 1.9 trillion in revenue in 2025, which is more than double the figure recorded in 2024.

Hai’s background: liquidity-first balance sheet management

The nomination also aligns with Hai’s prior experience. During his tenure as CEO of ACB from 2005 to 2012, he built a defensive balance sheet characterized by large cash holdings, a diversified asset base, and continuous adjustments to manage risk.

Before the 2012 events, ACB’s cash and cash equivalents—cash on hand plus deposits at the State Bank of Vietnam and commercial banks—reached more than 95,000 billion VND. The article notes that this level was only matched again more than a decade later, despite major changes in the banking system’s scale.

The underlying emphasis was not only liquidity, but the ability to “hold the ground” in a volatile market—treating risk resilience as as important as profitability.

Why the appointment matters for an investment-driven securities firm

In a market where much of securities revenue still depends on trading activity by retail investors, TVS’s investment-based model requires different capabilities. It depends on reading market cycles, allocating capital, and—most importantly—controlling risk when market conditions reverse.

These skills are described as more closely associated with banking than with brokerage. If Hai’s nomination is approved, it may reflect TVS’s intention to further position itself as an investment organization, where returns come from the quality of capital decisions rather than the volume of trades.

Market context: capital allocation over trading volume

The article frames the move against Vietnam’s increasingly crowded stock market and brokerage fees trending toward minimum levels. In that environment, the key question becomes less about who trades more and more about who allocates capital more effectively.

From this perspective, bringing in a “liquidity banker” to an investment-driven company may not be a dramatic turning point, but rather a late yet logical fit.