'Intriguing enjoyment' in the world of finance

Engineer-turned-asset manager Supakorn Soontornkit practises what he preaches when it comes to mutual funds

SRIWIPA SIRIPUNYAWIT

The more Supakorn Soontornkit gets to know about the financial world, the more fascinated he becomes. After 20 years as an investment expert, he still considers his profession ''an intriguing enjoyment''.

The 40-year-old formally dressed fund manager is always willing to share his views and insights on the economy and stock market whenever asked. He is a strong believer in the virtues of wealth management, financial planning and investment diversification. He practises what he preaches _ his personal portfolio includes investments in 20 mutual funds.

Interestingly, finance was not Dr Supakorn's chosen field. After completing his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Chulalongkorn University, he decided that acquiring some business skills would also be useful. He pursued an MBA at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he was totally drawn into the financial world. Later, he chose to further his journey by studying for a doctorate in business administration at Thammasat University.

He entered the field by becoming a vice-president at the Thai Bond Market Association before joining MFC Asset Management, where he serves today as executive vice-president in charge of the research and strategy department.

Having been around for almost two decades, he has seen constant development in both the market and its participants. Many new financial products and innovations have entered the market while the public has become much more aware of financial planning and wealth-building concepts.

''In the past, no one had ever thought about personal finance or how to manage one's finances,'' he says. ''However, today people have started to think about it as human lifespans have become much longer and so they need to plan well for their lives after retirement.''

Many years back he began to manage his financial affairs by setting up plans and financial goals for a life after retirement. Recently, he has invested mostly through mutual funds.

Of his overall portfolio, 60% is in equity funds, 30% in fixed-income funds (FIFs) and the remaining 10% is in foreign investment funds (FIFs).

Dr Supakorn is of the strong belief that equities will usually outperform fixed-income in the long run. Lately, he has also increased his exposure to overseas investment through FIFs to 25% of the total portfolio.

''That's because I believe in the necessity of diversification. Foreign investment, particularly in emerging markets such as Asia, is quite promising. So, I'll keep increasing the share in the funds,'' he says.

As well, he believes one should always watch for alternative investments such as property funds and sector funds. Sector funds, or mutual funds that invests in particular sectors, have recently been of increasing interest to several fund managers. MFC is also planning to launch a sector fund this month, he adds.

He invests in six FIFs, four equity funds, four long-term equity funds, three retirement mutual funds and three fixed-income funds. Annually, his portfolio generates returns of more than 10%.

''One should also have plans or set goals and manage to get there,'' he adds.

Basically, he says equity funds should deliver annual returns of around 10%, fixed-income 5-6% and property funds 8.5%. Given the low bank interest rates at the moment, Dr Supakorn suggests that people leave only the smallest amount of their money in a bank and seek to build wealth elsewhere, in line with their expectation and risk appetite.

As well, one should should diversify an individual portfolio into several asset classes with different risk levels such as equities, fixed-income, and other choices such as property funds and overseas investment. Of course, it will be necessary to revise the portfolio occasionally based on changes in market conditions and trends.

''Once every quarter people should check out their portfolios to see if they are delivering the returns they expected earlier,'' he advises. ''If not, they need to adjust them. However, this shouldn't be done too frequently as that might damage investors' discipline.''