Market unease shouldn’t scare off investors, says wealth manager

“It’s worth investing because you at least get tax deductions on your investments in retirement mutual funds [RMF] and long-term equity funds [LTF],” said Pipat Luengnaruemitchai, assistant managing director and co-head of the CIO office at Phatra Wealth Management.
Capital gains can also be made in the long run since equity investment has been shown to offer higher returns than bank deposits or investments in bonds, he said.
There is a “high chance” the index will return to about the 1,700 level, he said, blaming the current downturn in the stock market partly on listed firms performing more poorly than expected.
Corporate earnings are expected to rise next year, with market consensus agreeing that earnings-per-share growth would reach 10 per cent.
The Finance Ministry is considering a new long-term investment fund scheme because the LTF will expire at the end of this year.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index last week closed below the supported level of 1,600 as foreign investors sold on concerns partly about bleak prospects for the US and China completing a trade deal.
The index on Friday (November 29) closed at 1,590.59, 0.45 per cent down from the previous week, with daily turnover at Bt56.3 billion, up 23.2 per cent. 
A lower boundary for this week is expected of 1,575 or 1,550 and an upper bound of 1,605 or 1,615, according to Kasikorn Securities.
The market dropped after US President Donald Trump signed off on legislation supporting democracy in Hong Kong that would allow Washington to impose sanctions on rights abusers in the Chinese enclave, which has seen pro-democracy protests over the past five months. 
The protests and the US legislation have both angered Beijing.