On August 21, 2026, FTSE Russell announced the results of its September 2026 semi-annual review for the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) Asia-Pacific ex-Japan ex-China. This marks a pivotal review for Vietnam ahead of its official reclassification from frontier to secondary emerging market status on September 21, 2026.

Under the updated list, 27 Vietnamese stocks entered the FTSE Global All Cap. FTSE also added 90 stocks to the Micro Cap group, bringing Vietnam's total count in the FTSE Global Total Cap to 117 tickers. However, the Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap segments remain the primary focus for upgrade-related capital.

The Large Cap representatives are Vietcombank (VCB), Vingroup (VIC), and Vinhomes (VHM). The Mid Cap segment includes BIDV (BID), Hoa Phat Group (HPG), and VPBank (VPB). 

The remaining 21 Small Cap stocks span banking, securities, real estate, and consumer goods, including FPT, GEX, HDB, HCM, MCH, MSN, NVL, SHB, STB, SSB, SSI, TCX, VNM, VCI, VJC, MSB, VRE, VPL, VIX, VND and VCK.

Notably, VCB, VIC, VHM, BID, HPG, and VPB were simultaneously added to the FTSE All-World, an index focused on Large and Mid Cap stocks. 

According to FTSE Russell, Vietnam becomes the 49th nation to join the FTSE All-World.

Capital will not enter the market in a single installment. The inclusion of Vietnamese equities across global indices will occur in four phases, starting in September 2026 and concluding in September 2027 to mitigate liquidity impact. 

The new portfolio becomes effective after the September 18 session and officially applies from September 21, 2026.

According to Vietcap, passive funds tracking relevant FTSE indices manage $1.4 trillion in assets. If Vietnam receives full weighting, passive capital inflows could reach around $1.5 billion.

VPBank delivers surprise, VIC and VHM benefit most

In terms of how much the final result exceeded expectations ahead of the review, VPBank (VPB) is the standout.

In FTSE Russell's April update, VPB was absent from the preliminary list of 23 eligible Vietnamese stocks. However, by August 21, the stock not only joined the FTSE Global All Cap but was also assigned directly to Mid Cap, placing it alongside VCB, VIC, VHM, BID, and HPG in the FTSE All-World.

This classification proves crucial, as Mid Cap status gives VPB broader access to major index benchmarks compared to Small Cap. Therefore, considering degree of improvement compared to initial expectation, VPBank can be considered the most prominent "winner."

Several other stocks also saw upgraded expectations compared to the April list, including HDB, HCM, MCH, SSB, TCX, MSB, VPL, and VCK. According to Yuanta, upon full completion of GEIS inclusion, MCH could attract roughly $35.1 million, HDB $32.5 million, VPL $20.4 million, and VCK nearly $18 million.

SSI Research estimates that SSI could attract about $43.3 million, VIX $34.7 million, VCK $19 million, VND $18.3 million, VCI $17.5 million, TCX $14.8 million and HCM $13.7 million. Combined, the seven stocks could attract around $161.3 million, equivalent to VND4.2 trillion.

However, purely in terms of the size of potential inflows, VIC stands to benefit the most. Yuanta's model estimates that VIC could receive about $554 million, VHM around $174 million and HPG more than $85 million. 

VIC and VHM alone account for nearly half of the expected passive inflows into the 27 stocks. Including HPG, the three stocks could absorb more than half of the estimated $1.5 billion in total inflows.

FPT, meanwhile, is a stock to watch. In the reference list published in April, FPT was classified as Mid Cap, but the final August 21 review placed it in Small Cap. FPT could still attract about $53.7 million, but its move to Small Cap means it will have narrower coverage across major benchmark indexes than previously expected.

STB, MCH and VPL were also classified below Vietcap's earlier projections, with all three placed in Small Cap rather than Mid Cap. Meanwhile, KBC and TPB did not make the All Cap group as previously expected by Vietcap.

However, the FTSE story is not simply about a few sessions of gains ahead of the announcement. The VN-Index jumped nearly 34 points to 1,768.12 on August 20, with VIC, VCB and VHM making significant contributions and some stocks seeing limit-up gains. However, this movement alone is not enough to confirm a new uptrend, as liquidity has yet to broaden significantly across the market.

Manh Ha