Surprising common points between Vingroup, Viettel, Masan, Sovico…

Vietnam Report Joint Stock Company has just announced the ALPHA30 Ranking - Top 30 Strategic Investment Groups in Vietnam in 2025. These enterprises are evaluated based on a comprehensive combination of core competencies including capital allocation efficiency, sustainable governance, resilience to fluctuations and ecosystem creation capabilities.

Shaping a new growth model

The study shows that the enterprises on the list represent a pioneering force, not only leading in scale but also playing a role in shaping a new growth model, promoting the process of upgrading governance quality, and creating sustainable value for the Vietnamese economy .

In terms of scale, this group of companies owns total assets of nearly VND 2.43 trillion, employs nearly 540,000 workers, and generates total revenue of more than VND 1.1 trillion, equivalent to about 9.5% of Vietnam's nominal GDP in 2024.

In particular, the average total asset size of each corporation is about 81,022 billion VND in assets, 3.6 times the average size of the group of enterprises approaching. The corporations on this list are familiar names such as Sovico Group, Viettel, Masan , Vingroup, ...

In terms of financial performance, although the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2020-2024 period is 11.6%, it is lower than the nominal GDP growth of 16.3%.

However, the research unit assessed that this concealed a deeper story of maturity and drastic restructuring. Many corporations have proactively divested from large-scale but low-margin businesses to focus on areas with higher quality growth in the future.

The average ROE of this group in the last 3 years reached 9.5%, significantly higher than the 5.5% of the asymptomatic group, showing the ability to optimize equity effectively. Although the average ROA of the group in the last 3 years was 4.7%, lower than the 4.8% of the asymptomatic group, it reflects the characteristics of long-term, large-scale investment and targeting projects of strategic significance.

Qualitative analysis shows that the core difference between the top 30 and the near-peer group is not in vision but in execution. The companies on the list clearly demonstrate their ability to turn vision into results, with the largest gaps in M&A, Investment and Innovation performance indicators.

The foundation for this superior execution comes from governance quality, as this group scores significantly higher on governance and transparency.

Digital transformation, ESG becomes the new investment standard

In the modern investment era, the measure of a strategic corporation's value has gone beyond purely financial indicators. Digital transformation, ESG (Environmental - Social - Governance) and Innovation are considered new evaluation criteria.

These are no longer strange or formal concepts, but have become a mandatory assessment framework, a passport for corporations to participate in the global game.

The survey shows that leading Vietnamese corporations have used digital transformation to optimize operations, deeply understand customers and create synergy. For example, Masan is building the "Point of Life" ecosystem based on data from the WIN membership program. Sovico is investing in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) center to integrate data from the aviation, banking and real estate sectors.

Today, the world's leading financial institutions and investment funds such as IFC, Standard Chartered and large private equity funds all have strict ESG requirements. A business with a low ESG index not only faces legal and reputational risks, but also risks being excluded from the sights of these huge capital flows.

This is why corporations like T&T Group partnered with Standard Chartered to raise billions of dollars for green finance. Another case is Sovico receiving investment capital from IFC for HDBank.

In addition, corporations in this group understand that ESG investing is a strategic investment to secure social license and, more importantly, to maintain access to international capital at reasonable costs.

Master of Communication

The communication activities of corporations such as Vingroup, Sovico, etc. also show remarkable growth, clearly reflecting the class of leading strategic investment enterprises.

For them, media is no longer a passive PR activity, but has become an indispensable strategic tool to build reputation, lead capital flows and shape the market. They not only appear in the media, but also actively create and manage their stories with three typical models.

The first is the personal brand architect model, typically Sovico Group, T&T Group and BRG Group. In these corporations, the founder’s brand and the corporation’s brand are almost one.

Billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Bau Hien or billionaire Nguyen Thi Nga are not just names but also invaluable brand assets. The stories of enterprises often revolve around big themes such as national aspirations, social responsibility and international partnerships, helping to build soft advantages, creating solid trust with the government and major partners.

The second is the communication model aimed at the capital market. Typical examples are listed corporations such as Masan Group, Mobile World, GELEX and PAN Group. Their communication activities are designed in a professional and disciplined manner, with the main goal of building trust with investors.

Their stories are driven by data and specific business events such as financial statements, M&A deals, and strategic restructurings. Communications are an integral part of investor relations.

Finally, there is the communication model that leads national aspirations, most notably Vingroup and Viettel. The stories of these two corporations are closely linked to the strategic goals of an entire country. Vingroup creates a story about the aspiration to build a global technology brand "Made in Vietnam". While Viettel builds a story about its pivotal role in ensuring technological security and leading national digital transformation.

Collectively, these corporations are master communicators. They understand that in the modern world, reputation and brand storytelling are as important a form of capital as financial capital. The difference between them and their peers lies not just in their size, but in their ability to turn their business activities into impactful strategic stories that attract capital, talent, and create sustainable competitive advantage.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/diem-chung-bat-ngo-giua-vingroup-viettel-masan-sovico-20250822145838602.htm