VPB Leads Proprietary Desk Buying as Foreign Investors Net Sell VND 21,000B

Overview

Proprietary trading desks at Vietnamese securities firms net bought VND 1,645B of shares on HOSE in October, their highest monthly figure since December 2025, with VPBank (VPB) the single largest accumulation at VND 5,005B since 3 September. Over the same period foreign investors net sold close to VND 21,000B across all three exchanges, though a single VND 9,600B MCH block trade on 9 October accounted for nearly half of that outflow.

Key Facts

• Proprietary desks net bought VND 1,645B on HOSE in October, after VND 651B in September and net selling of VND 1,954B in August.
• First week of November added VND 569B, lifting cumulative net buying since early September to VND 2,865B.
• VPB accounted for VND 5,005B of proprietary net buying between 3 September and 6 November, mostly via matched orders.
• HDB was second at roughly VND 1,488B, almost entirely from one put-through trade on 2 October; foreign investors sold a net VND 962B of HDB that same session.
• Foreign investors net sold nearly VND 21,000B in October, the heaviest of the first ten months; excluding the 9 October MCH trade the figure is about VND 11,300B.
• Foreign net selling across all three exchanges was VND 17,900B in Q3, equal to 37% of the Q2 level.
• Lepus Investment bought 73 million MCH shares from 9 October, reaching 5.58% of Masan Consumer.

What Happened

HOSE data show proprietary desks turning consistent net buyers over September and October, a reversal from VND 1,954B of net selling in August. Over the trailing twelve months the desks were net buyers in seven months and net sellers in five. The buying has been concentrated: VPBank alone absorbed VND 5,005B between 3 September and 6 November, largely through ordinary matched orders rather than negotiated blocks, while HDBank’s HDB was second, almost entirely from a single VND 1,488B put-through on 2 October. On the sell side, the desks reduced MCH, TCB and VIX.

Foreign investors remained net sellers but the pace has slowed. Q3 net selling of VND 17,900B was only 37% of the Q2 figure, and Thiên Việt Securities (TVS) attributes part of the moderation to FTSE Russell’s upgrade of Vietnam to secondary emerging market status effective 21 September. The October headline of nearly VND 21,000B is distorted by 9 October, when foreign investors sold close to VND 9,600B of Masan Consumer (MCH) shares, almost all through put-through. Lepus Investment, chaired by Đỗ Thị Hoàng Yến, who also serves as Masan Consumer’s corporate governance lead and company secretary, bought 73 million MCH shares from that date to reach 5.58% ownership. In the first five sessions of November foreign investors net sold just over VND 800B, turning net buyers of more than VND 400B on 6 November.

Market Context

VPB trades on HOSE and last closed at 22,000 VND, down 0.45% on volume of 312,400 shares, a thin tape relative to the scale of proprietary accumulation. HDB closed at 22,500 VND, TCB at 21,650 VND and MCH at 129,800 VND. The divergence matters because proprietary desks are typically the marginal buyer when foreign flows turn negative; their concentration in bank stocks signals a domestic view on credit growth and valuation rather than a broad risk-on call. Rồng Việt Securities (VDS) notes foreign capital continues to withdraw even after the FTSE reclassification, and TVS expects active-fund inflows in 2026 to stay limited while global geopolitical risk keeps allocators in safer assets.

Strategic Significance

The split between proprietary buying and foreign selling reframes the October outflow: strip out the MCH block, which was a change of hands to a related domestic holder rather than genuine exit demand, and foreign selling was below July’s level. For VPB specifically, sustained desk accumulation through matched orders suggests domestic institutions are building positions ahead of a credit cycle recovery, and that the bank’s liquidity and index weight make it the default vehicle for that view. The risk is that proprietary books are trading capital, not permanent capital; if the foreign bid does not return once global risk settles, the marginal buyer disappears and bank valuations lose their floor.

What to Watch

• Monthly HOSE proprietary and foreign flow data for November, to see whether desks extend buying past VND 2,865B and whether the 6 November foreign net-buy session marks a turn.
• VPB fourth-quarter results and any 2026 credit-growth guidance from the State Bank of Vietnam.
• Foreign-ownership and put-through filings on MCH following Lepus Investment’s 5.58% stake.
• FTSE Russell index-tracking flows in the first rebalance after the 21 September upgrade.
• Further TVS and VDS strategy notes on 2026 active-fund allocations to Vietnam.