Major equity funds stay cautious, raise cash holdings

Cash-weighting in March 2026 was concentrated mainly among large funds, with NAV of about 5–8 trillion VND, while funds with smaller NAV reduced cash allocations. Net outflow pressure increased in March, with net outflows totaling more than 5.4 trillion VND, up 59% from February 2026, according to FiInTrade. The net flow remained concentrated in the Equity fund group, accounting for 64% of total net outflows and centered in the ETF segment.

March 2026: Outflows concentrated in ETFs

After a period of net inflows since December 2025, net outflows returned to more than 3.2 trillion VND in the ETF group in March 2026, the highest since August 2025. Outflows were mainly in the foreign VanEck Vietnam ETF (down -1.9 trillion VND), which recorded its record outflow, and the domestic DCVFMVN DIAMOND ETF (down -1 trillion VND) after inflows of over 163 billion VND in the previous month.

Large-NAV funds still saw inflows, but the sector trend turned negative

Most funds with large NAV posted net inflows in March 2026. EVESG and DCDS attracted net inflows for the second consecutive month.

Closed-end funds: outflows eased

Net outflows continued to ease in the closed-end fund group. In March 2026, equity funds posted outflows of more than 1 trillion VND, down 23% from February 2026. VEIL’s net outflows fell by 31% versus February 2026, to just over 674 billion VND.

Q1 2026: Equity outflows deepen

For Q1 2026, total net outflows from equity funds totaled more than 14.4 trillion VND, up more than 2.6 times year-on-year and marking the fifth consecutive quarter of negative flows. The level of outflows was notably higher than Q4 2025 (+48%) and accounted for about 41.7% of total net outflows in 2025, indicating that capital withdrawals are accelerating rather than cooling. Outflows were concentrated mainly in the Equity fund group, with major contributions from closed-end funds and ETFs.

Bond funds: second consecutive quarter of outflows

Net outflows in the Bond fund group remained in effect for the second quarter in a row, totaling more than 4.5 trillion VND in Q1 2026, though down 23% from Q4 2025. Funds with NAV above 1 trillion VND (TCBF, DCBF, DCIP) continued to contribute most to net outflows.

Fund trading in March: shift toward midcaps and themes

In March 2026, buying activity by funds shifted clearly toward Midcaps and theme-driven stocks. Leading net purchases included HPG, driven mainly by open-ended fund PYN Elite and the foreign ETF Fubon FTSE Vietnam. The Financials group (VCI, VIB, VIX, EVF, EIB, MIG) was net bought strongly by funds in March 2026.

VCI and real estate names among top buys

VCI was bought by the most funds (39 funds), including the Fubon FTSE Vietnam ETF and VFMVSF. Real estate stocks (IDC, HDG) were also among the top net buys, supported by open-ended funds DCDS, DCDE, and VINACAPITAL-VMEEF.

BSR and large-cap pressure

BSR led the top net sells by funds in March 2026, mainly due to the Fubon FTSE Vietnam ETF and open-ended funds DCDS and EVESG. The large-cap VN30 group faced meaningful net selling pressure, with banks such as STB, ACB, MBB and TCB affected; STB and MBB were heavily reduced by the PYN Elite Fund.

VIC continued to be net sold for the third consecutive month, mainly due to Q1 2026 portfolio reshaping by foreign ETFs such as the Fubon FTSE Vietnam ETF and VanEck Vietnam ETF.

Market context: all equity funds posted negative performance

All 82/82 equity funds posted negative performance in March as the VN-Index fell by 10.95% month-on-month.