FinTech firms help spur mutual funds

The surge in mobile internet users and online brokers offering mutual fund investments is set to encourage investors, especially millennials, to go online. Phongthorn Thawonthanakul, chief executive of Finnomena, a Bangkok-based financial technology (fintech) startup, said Thailand’s mutual fund market is worth around 5 trillion baht per year. But most fund investments are sold through the conventional broker channel, he said. There are 5 million mutual fund accounts and Thailand has a population of 68 million, or 7% penetration, when half the population in developed countries own such accounts, said Mr Phongthorn. To capture this opportunity, in the first quarter Finnomena launched the beta version of an investment management planner called NTER to help investors make decisions, he said. Read more: bangkokpost.com