EQUITY AND LONG-TERM FUNDS BEST INVESTMENT BET NOWARDAYS

       Asset of both longterm equity funds and retirement mutual funds in the first eight months of this year jumped 29.74 per cent from Bt84.99 billion to Bt110.27 billion on the strong rally in the stock market. LTFs shot up 40.17 per cent to Bt63.72 billion at the end of August from Bt45.46 bilฌlion at the end of last year, the chairwoman of the Association of Investment Management Companies and managing director of BBL Asset Management said yesฌterday.
       RMFs climbed up 17.74 per cent to Bt46.54 billion from Bt39.53 billion.
       The higher assets under management could be ascribed to the euphoria in the stock market and the rising interest in both types of funds from investors for their tax deducฌtions.
       The stock market has surged nearly 48 per cent so far this year
       "Thai investors should separate personฌal investment from the country's economy. Those who have several years left before retirement should invest in LTFs and RMFs, investing in stocks in particular.
       "They should not be paranoid about volatility and dollarcost averaging (investฌing an equal amount every month) is the best investment method. For those who are approaching retirement, they should shun investing in the stock market, as it is too risky for them.
       "They should switch sharefocused RMFs to debt instrumentoriented RMFs and redeem their LTFs when their investment reaches five years," she said.
       According to www.settrade.com, some LTFs as of September 1 had outperformed the stock market for a sixmonth period.
       ING Thai Good Corporate Governance Long Term Equity Fund (ING CGLTF) reported a 65.70percent return, followed by Ayudhya SET 50 Long Term Equity Fund (AYFLTF50) at 59.11 per cent, Jumbo 25 Dividend Long Term Equity Fund (JB25 LTF) at 54.60 per cent and UOB Long Term Equity Fund (UOBLTF) at 49.50 per cent.
       For threemonth returns, ING CGLTF still outperformed other LTFs with 14.56 per cent. AYFLTF 50 was second with 13.25 per cent, followed by JB25 LTF with 12.66 per cent and Nasset Big Cap Long Term Equity Fund (BIgCAPLTF) with 11.20 per cent.