Dragon Capital's voluntary defined contribution plan launch comes as Vietnam's rapidly ageing population is set to increase pressure on the highly underfunded state pension plan.
Norway's $850 billion sovereign wealth fund is said to have handed out four Southeast Asian single-country equity portfolios worth some $1 billion in total in recent months.
The Ho Chi Minh City-based firm has launched what it says is Vietnam's first Ucits fund. It is mulling partnering with firms to offer third-party funds on its Ucits platform.
The recent change in tack comes amid other plans to liberalise Vietnam's financial markets. Meanwhile, the first locally listed exchange-traded funds are in the pipeline.
Frontier Investment & Development Partners is less upbeat than its former partner about the outlook for Vietnam and is raising a separate fund of its own.
Foreign investors must have exit strategies at all times to guard against the sudden risk of market liquidity grinding to a halt, says a fund manager in Ho Chi Minh City.