Honorary Award for Best Fund of the Year 2568 in the Foreign Fixed Income Fund category, Krungthai Asset Management Public Company Limited (KTAM)

KTAM prioritizes the flexibility of its investment strategy. It adjusts its debt instrument investment proportions according to its capital structure, constantly monitoring market conditions, and delivers performance that adequately rebuilds investor confidence.

Krungthai Asset Management Public Company Limited (KTAM) has received the Best Fund of the Year 2568 award in the Foreign Fixed Income Fund category for the KTAM Capital Security Fund (Accumulated Value) (KT-CSBOND-A) due to its strategic adjustments, creating flexibility in fund management and prudent investment risk management.

Chawinda Hanratanakul, Managing Director, Krungthai Asset Management Company Limited He expressed his feelings about receiving the award, saying that he was extremely pleased and proud to receive the award for Best Fund again this year. He thanked the fund management team, the risk management department, and the credit analysis department for helping drive the KT-CSBOND-A fund to success. He also thanked the Banking and Finance Journal for organizing the annual Best Fund Awards, which is an important part in promoting and encouraging work in the money and capital markets.

Promote flexible strategies and manage risks carefully

The KT-CSBOND fund is a feeder fund that primarily invests in units of the PIMCO GIS Capital Securities Fund. This fund boasts a flexible investment strategy, allowing it to adjust its debt instrument portfolio appropriately to market conditions based on its capital structure. The fund prioritizes investments in large national banks with diverse business models and avoids excessive concentration in any single issuer, a prudent approach to risk management.

For investments in Additional Tier 1 (AT1), which are a type of subordinated debt instruments issued by commercial banks to enhance liquidity, the fund management will take a more defensive approach by selecting shorter-call instruments with high reset spreads and attractive coupons. This approach is considered to reduce the risk of extension risk, which is often a key driver of volatility in the AT1 market.

The Fund attempts to avoid investing in newer instruments that do not offer returns that are proportionate to the risk, particularly those from higher-risk issuers. Given recent market conditions, such as the announcement of reciprocal tariffs, the Fund's short-term AT1s tend to outperform the overall AT1 market, while lower-priced newer instruments are under greater pressure, reflecting the Fund's relatively cautious strategy at this time.

Mutual fund products
Complete with all assets to meet investor needs

Regarding the overall business operations, Krungthai Asset Management's mutual fund product offerings will consider the direction of diverse assets and the potential for future returns for investors, within acceptable risk tolerance. Examples include Private Credit funds and Bitcoin funds.

Regarding the trade war's volatility response and strategic adjustments to meet customer needs, Krungthai Asset Management believes that economic policy factors in various countries are impacting the prices of investment securities, leading to significant financial market volatility. One such factor is the trade war. In this highly volatile financial market, Krungthai Asset Management's strategy involves diversifying investments to reduce portfolio volatility. This includes adjusting the proportion of debt instruments and equities, as well as adjusting the investment mix between domestic and international assets.

“Krungthai Asset Management's strength lies in its investment discipline and fund management, emphasizing risk management to achieve consistent fund returns consistent with the fund's policy.”

Chawinda said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecasts for 2567-2568 to 2.8% and 3.0%, respectively, reflecting the uncertainty and direct and indirect impacts of US trade policies that have eroded confidence.

Inflation has slowed down to near target levels in many countries, leading most central banks to continuously lower interest rates. However, US President Donald Trump's trade policy is uncertain and may cause US inflation to accelerate in the future, causing the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to delay interest rate cuts more slowly than other central banks.

Recommend strategies for managing portfolios to cope with volatility

Regarding investment portfolio management recommendations amid the global trade war, Krungthai Asset Management still believes that this year's investment will likely be quite volatile. Therefore, creating an investment portfolio that can withstand volatility is crucial. Investments should be adequately diversified and not overly concentrated. Including safe assets like gold may help mitigate the volatility.

"We maintain a neutral outlook on fixed income instruments, as market interest rates have already adjusted downward in line with expectations of domestic rate cuts, making current interest income less attractive. We have also revised our medium-term outlook for global equities from slightly positive to neutral, citing the risk of weaker economic data in the coming period."

Furthermore, the global stock market's valuation is already quite high, meaning returns from now on should be only within normal limits. Regarding the Thai stock market, KTAM maintains a neutral view. While investors are concerned about the fundamentals of the Thai stock market, they believe the market has already absorbed a fair amount of negative news. Furthermore, with a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of only 11.66 and a dividend yield of approximately 4.6%, downside risk is relatively low.

KTAM has recommended funds suitable for this economic situation, divided into debt funds and equity funds as follows:

For short-term investment, we recommend the Krung Thai Government Money Market Fund (KTSV) (risk level 1), which focuses on investing in Thai government instruments. For medium-term investment, we recommend the Krung Thai 1-3 year Fixed Income Fund (KTFIX-1Y3Y) (risk level 4), which focuses on investing in domestic securities or assets related to debt instruments, deposits, and/or instruments that the management company has considered to be quality debt instruments and provide returns appropriate to the risk. The average portfolio life is approximately 1 to 3 years. For long-term investment, we recommend the Krung Thai Fixed Income Plus Fund (KTFIXPLUS) (risk level 4), which focuses on investing in both domestic and international debt instruments.

Equity funds recommended: KTAM World Technology Artificial Intelligence Equity Fund (KT-WTAI) (Risk level 6) focuses on investing in Allianz Global Artificial Intelligence (Master Fund), which focuses on investing in global stocks that benefit from the evolution of artificial intelligence; KTAM Vietnam Equity Fund (KT-VIETNAM) (Risk level 6) focuses on investing in listed stocks and/or companies that conduct business or have main income and/or benefit from the economic growth of Vietnam; and KTAM All Asia Pacific Equity Fund (KT-AASIA) (Risk level 6) focuses on investing in Fidelity Funds – Pacific Fund (Master Fund), which focuses on investing in stocks in the Asia-Pacific region.

For Chinese stock funds, we recommend the KTAM China Equity Fund (KT-CHINA) (risk level 6), which focuses on investing in units of the BGF China Fund (master fund), focusing on investing in stocks of companies domiciled in, or partly benefiting from, economic growth in the People's Republic of China, and the KTAM China A-Shares Fund (KT-Ashares) (risk level 6), which focuses on investing in Allianz Global Investor Fund – Allianz China A-Shares (master fund), focusing on investing in the Chinese A-Shares stock market.

Warning: The fund is subject to exchange rate risk (except KTSV). The fund has a policy to hedge exchange rate risk at the fund manager's discretion (except KTFIXPLUS, which has a policy to hedge exchange rate risk entirely). If the fund does not have a policy to hedge exchange rate risk entirely, investors may lose or gain from exchange rate or receive a refund lower than the initial investment. / Investors must understand the nature of the product, return conditions, and risks before deciding to invest.

Finance Banking Awards Honorable Mention MONEY & BANKING AWARDS 2025, Chatsiri Sophonpanich Wins Financial Person of the Year