Santander sees mutual fund business growing 20% in 2005

Chile's largest bank Santander Santiago (NYSE: SAN) sees its retail asset management business growing 20% this year thanks to a strong economy and investor demand for mutual funds, local daily Estrategia reported. Santander's portfolio should grow at a similar rate to that of the mutual fund industry as a whole, the bank's asset management director Jaime Munita, who oversees US$2.5bn in assets, was quoted as saying. The mutual fund industry has grown 13% this year to date, but Munita expects sector growth to reach 20% due to economic growth and new segmented mutual fund products. Chile's 18 mutual fund operators had about 6.65tn pesos (US$11.6bn) in assets under management at the end of February, according to mutual fund association AAFM.