Rising capital market promotes demand for investment banking services
After a prolonged period of sluggishness, the Vietnamese capital market is sending clear signs of recovery, with simultaneous improvement in both the debt capital (DCM), equity capital (ECM) and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) markets. In the context of increasingly limited medium and long-term capital from banks when the credit/GDP ratio reached 146% by the end of 2025, mobilization channels such as bond issuance, stock issuance... are gradually becoming an important resource.
On the DCM channel, continuing the strong growth momentum from 2025, according to VIS Rating, in the first quarter of 2026 alone, the value of corporate bond issuance reached about VND 30,600 billion, an increase of 22% compared to the same period, while the late payment rate decreased to nearly 0% - the lowest in many years. The above developments show an improvement in both scale and quality, reflecting that investor confidence is gradually being strengthened.
In the ECM segment, after a series of "billion-dollar" deals in 2025, many businesses continue to plan IPOs to take advantage of market conditions.
As the capital market recovers, the demand for specialized investment banking (IB) services will increase. With increasingly strict requirements for information transparency and transaction structure, businesses are looking for financial institutions with strategic consulting capabilities, designing appropriate mobilization plans and effectively connecting with the investor network.
What motivation helps VPBankS accelerate in the investment banking segment?
With its own advantages from the VPBank - SMBC ecosystem, the experience of the consulting team and the capacity to invest, guarantee issuance and distribution on a large scale, VPBank Securities Joint Stock Company (VPBankS, HoSE: VPX) is possessing a solid foundation, ready to "welcome" the recovery wave of the capital market.
VPBankS is currently one of the few units that owns a large capital base, receiving support from the parent bank, thereby having the ability to provide a complete investment bank value chain for customers, from consulting, issuance guarantee, primary distribution investment. As of the end of 2025, VPBankS's equity reached 34,000 billion VND, ranking second in the securities industry, while total assets exceeded 73,000 billion VND, ranking top 3.
In parallel, the company also develops a multi-channel trading system based on technology platforms, contributing to expanding investor access and providing full post-issuance services.
Accordingly, in the ECM segment, VPBankS is strongly supported by the Vietnam Prosperity Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VPBank; HoSE: VPB) ecosystem and the international partner network of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), creating conditions for the company to access more and more high-quality deals. In the DCM segment, the advantage of capital capacity and a wide distribution network also helps VPBankS increase the scale of participation in corporate bond deals.
In 2025, VPBankS made a strong mark in the investment banking segment, with the total scale of DCM, ECM and M&A consulting deals reaching nearly 36,000 billion VND; DCM's sales accounted for nearly 10% of the total value of primary non-bank corporate bonds issued. VPBankS also made a mark with its role as a consultant in the sensational M&A deal, with a scale of nearly 200 million USD, between KOKUYO Group and Thien Long Group.
Stepping into 2026, investment banking activities continue to be identified as an important growth pillar, besides margin lending, proprietary trading and brokerage. According to the General Meeting of Shareholders documents, in the face of the very large demand for corporate bond and stock issuance, VPBankS is possessing an advantage to take advantage of market opportunities, increase the scale of issuance consulting, guarantee and distribution.
To concretize the above orientation, VPBankS's Investment Banking Center has developed a long-term strategy, focusing on two core goals: High-quality human resources and effective risk management to create a solid foundation for growth. Along with investing in technology infrastructure and developing modern products and financial solutions, VPBankS focuses on consolidating its organization and improving the quality of its staff to meet the requirements of expanding the scale and complexity of business operations.
VPBankS identifies risk management as a key factor to ensure sustainable growth and optimize capital utilization efficiency, not only stopping at controlling losses but also towards balancing risk and profit in the entire operation.
On that governance platform, the business orientation for 2026 is implemented in the direction of in-depth development of core segments, focusing on consulting on issuance, investment and distribution of high-quality corporate bonds, prioritizing leading enterprises with healthy and transparent financial foundations.
At the same time, the company promotes M&A consulting activities in potential areas such as industrial park real estate, energy, infrastructure and financial services, thereby gradually improving the overall consulting capacity for corporate customers.
