Posts Tagged ‘Mutual Fund’

Mutual Funds 2009 and Mutual Funds 2010

Buy Mutual Funds now!

As we all know, mutual funds are funds that are managed by an investment company with the financial objective of generating high rate of returns. An investment management company collects money from the investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds and other financial securities in a diversified manner. Stock investing has become increasingly difficult, as turmoil invades our stock market and our economic outlook continues to be poor. According to research and study, there are 7 best mutual funds to invest in 2009 and beyond, based on their performance, stability, and income of hundreds of top-rated funds. There are also factors that were considered through the research, which will be discussed below.

Three factors were considered while rating the 7 best mutual funds 2009 and these are the following: Read more…

13 Advantages of actively managing your money yourself

A friend of mine forwarded the article below to my email. It’s about managing your money on your own while not getting any help from financial managers or experts. I would like to share this to you as it may give you an idea on making decisions on how will you want your hard earned money be managed.

In my opinion, I will agree to some points of the author but it’s also good that we also have those fund managers or financial experts do the job in growing our money. I also have “some” of my money or investments handled or coursed through brokers or fund managers as I find their capabilities significant in my investing strategies. So far, I’m satisfied with the service, it’s just how you look for a good broker with less or minimal fees and of course, TRUST is important. These people already got the experience and  they know that their primary concern is giving you the best they could do. To make their client happy! If you think, they are helpful enough, I think, you might stick to them for “some” not all of your investments.

I’m definitely a NEWBIE! To start in this money endeavor, seeking help from those knowledgeable folks is a good option. If I find myself capable of doing it on my own, having mastered the strategy, then, I will be better to manage my own money already.  For now, learning from others and getting the best option from those financial experts is still my recommendation. Well, you may want to read the article. Read it below:

Most investors do not realise, but as a private investor managing his own money, he has got an immense advantage over a fund manager due to factors he may not even be aware of.

Sure it will take up some of your free time but it will probably be one of the most awarding activities you can invest your time in. We have all worked hard for the money we have saved and it would only be prudent to invest in the best way possible. With public pension systems crumbling around the world because of ageing populations, making the most of your savings had gotten much more important.

1. You can wait

As a private investor you can wait for attractive investment opportunities to present themselves. If you cannot find anything attractive you can stay in cash. Fund managers do not have this luxury.

They have to invest in whatever their investment area is irrespective of valuation. Holding cash in the fund management world is known as career risk as the fund manager runs the risk of falling behind his peers or his benchmark. The larger the cash position the higher the career risk.

The best example of career risk I have read is value fund managers losing their jobs because they refused to buy internet shares during the internet bubble.

2. You can invest anywhere and everywhere

As a private investor you can invest in any type of asset in any country that offers an attractive risk return trade-off, be it corporate bonds, equities, options, real estate etc.

Fund managers have to stay within the fund’s investment area. Additionally complying with regulations, even further limits their investment choices. You can argue that you can change to a fund in another investment area but that is also actively managing your money.

3. You can invest in any size

This is similar to the investing anywhere and everywhere as you have the freedom of investing in small or large companies whatever is most attractively priced.

I was recently astounded when I heard of a value fund manager that had to invest in companies that have a high weighting in a particular share index because he had institutional investors (read large investors) that would withdraw their funds should his performance deviate too much from the market.

This is ludicrous, why invest with a value manager if you really want market index performance? You want a value manager to do what he does best, search for undervalued companies.

4. You have no benchmark

As a private investor I only have one goal in mind, to grow my investment portfolio each year irrespective of what the market does.

I do not consider it a good year if I have lost 25% while the market has lost 40%.

I am sure your goal is the same.

Fund managers only have one goal, beating his benchmark irrespective of absolute return. I cannot remember how many times I have heard a fund manager say that he has to remain fully invested in his investment area as that is what his investors expect of him.

Just think of what happened to investors in technology funds as the internet bubble deflated.

5. You can focus and ignore

Studying, understanding and applying what has worked in investing is all you need to do to be wildly successful as a private investor. You can only focus on a few things and ignore the market noise, you only have to spend relatively little time to be successful.

Fund managers have to have an opinion on a lot of different investment areas because they have to appear competent in company and client meetings. It is tough for them to have to say I do not know.

I do not watch financial television, its complete rubbish and a waste of time.

Mainly yo-yo news i.e. what went up and down.

I have my investment criteria, I look for companies that falls within it and I study only that. The rest does not interest me and that saves a lot of time.

6. No conflict of interest

This is a big one. You only have your best interests at heart. In other words all your decisions are in your best interest.

Fund managers have to think of keeping their jobs, increasing their assets under management and keeping clients happy. All this means is that their investment performance is not the most important thing on their minds.

Also fund managers in companies what also offer investment banking services may be pressurised to buy securities of investment banking clients irrespective of investment attractiveness.

7. You can have a long view

According to a study by the New York Stock Exchange the average holding period of shares held by investors have declined from five to six years in the 1950’s to 11 months. That means that the average investor has an investment horizon shorter than one financial year.

It is unlikely that a company with problems, as undervalued investment inevitably have, can sort them out in such a short period of time.

As a private investor you can follow the company over many years and realise the gains when the company gets revalued by the market. This may be the largest competitive advantage you have.

The ability to look at a company solely on valuation and keep it as long as it is undervalued.

8. No peer pressure

Accept if you discuss your investment with friends or family you will have no peer pressure to buy or sell any investments. I have gotten to the point that I am reluctant to discuss my investments because the response I get is either, “never heard of it” or “what, you must be mad, don’t you read the newspaper?”

Fund managers have a different problem. The funds they manage get compared to benchmark indices and other funds, including the individual fund holdings.

Should you stand out in any way invites questions. Should the performance be worse than the peer group or benchmark career risk increases.

If you manage your own money you have none of these problems.

9. You decide

You make the final decision after you have done the analysis. You may be wrong but at least you make the calls either way. A lot of funds are managed where committees decide what is bought and sold.

Apart from the problems of group-think investment committees are staffed with people throughout the organisation with different investment approaches, not all of which has shown good historical results.

Furthermore it may be difficult to tell your boss that his investment idea stinks if you have your bonus evaluation later that day. This leads to suboptimal and sometimes completely dysfunctional decision making.

10. You can concentrate

If you find a really compelling idea you can choose to invest as large a part of your capital as you feel comfortable with.

With 80% of non-market risk diversified away with as few as 15 positions you can determine what your optimal number of investments are.

Mine is 30 as I feel comfortable with the weighting of each position in my portfolio and I can easily keep track of the investments.

When I see funds with 100 or more investments my first thoughts are that they must not have much conviction in any of their ideas. Also with so many positions you may as well buy the market itself through an inexpensive exchange traded fund.

11. You control the costs

Controlling costs and fees, or the friction of investing, is a very important part of part of realising superior long term results.

Using a discount broker I can buy and sell most shares for around 1% brokerage.

If I hold a position for three years that equates to 0.33% per year plus a 0.25% custody fee. That is a lot lower than funds that charge 1% to 1.5% per year on top of a 5% initial fee and other expenses.

Calculated over a period of 20 to 30 years keeping costs low makes a huge difference.

12. Down years are more bearable

This goes along with the point on making your own decisions. Should you have a bad year at least you know you made the decisions, can learn from your mistakes and make adjustments to your investment strategy.

13. You can be fully invested

Should you find a large number of attractive investments you can be fully invested and remain so even if the markets declined and you are still convinced of the investment case of each investment.

With a fund manager this is unfortunately not the case. When markets fall they are bound to get redemptions. In order meet the redemptions they must either have cash available or sell investments. But when markets are falling liquidity drops as well. That means that because investments have to be sold liquid investments are sold first.

This selling pressure puts pressure on share prices leading the markets to fall further thus triggering more redemptions. You get the picture.

Some fund managers plan for such eventualities be keeping a certain amount of liquid investments or by keeping at least a small amount of cash on hand. This as mentioned in one of the points above leads to suboptimal investments not necessarily the managers best ideas.

Luckily as a private investor you do not have this problem. I always keep a cash reserve of one years living expenses aside to ensure that I do not have any pressure to sell investments should the market decline unexpectedly. Also a large cash reserve gives me the peace of mind and opportunity to focus on investing for the long term.

There are of course a few funds where the drawbacks mentioned below do not apply but they are in the minority. The large bulk of fund management companies are focused on growing the amount of money they manage, where maximizing the returns to investors come a distant last.

Entry Credits: www.eurosharelab.com

You have read the article already. In the end, it’s your decision whether you manage you money or get a fund manager for you. As what I’ve said, I’m a NEWBIE, I need help from the experts. I invested in mutual funds which are managed by fund managers. I see my money is growing and so far, satisfied with the service. I’m happy. That’s important. Now, what’s your take? wbpitfe5qk

Safest Way To Invest

The featured article below would help those confuse people who got the money to invest but don’t know or have any idea on where to put it or perhaps just reluctant in finding the safest way to invest.
Take the query below as well as the answer to Edwin’s question.

Q: What’s the best way to save these days? I am expecting a big amount of money to come from the sale of a lot we’ve had in the family for a long time. With the global economic crisis affecting our economy, I want to play it safe yet grow my money. – Edwin

A: It’s good that you are thinking of protecting your money (your capital) by investing the proceeds from the sale of your lot. Investing your money may make it grow over time.

Understand, though, that with investing comes risks and rewards. If you want your investment to grow and yield higher possible returns on your investment, be prepared to meet setbacks and losses if they happen. Investments that yield higher returns come with higher risks such as heavy losses, as what stock market investors have realized last year at the height of the global financial crisis. Investments that have low risks may more or less safeguard your capital but give you low rewards as well (low interest income or minimal capital gains).

Bank deposits and government securities may offer you relatively safe investment options.

Bank deposits take the form of savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, and time deposits. You deposit your cash in the bank and you get interest back after a month or so. While this may seem to be safe and will preserve your investment, this may not actually be the case as inflation may eat into your investment.

The current rate for savings accounts, for instance, is about 0.75 percent per annum. The inflation rate is way higher than that, which means that the growth to be yielded by your investment in a savings account will be overtaken by the rise in prices of commodities.

Time deposits may give better rates, but still may not be enough to match the cost of inflation. You may need to keep your money on deposit for a longer term to achieve a higher rate of return.

As “The Citibank Guide to Building Personal Wealth” (a book published by Citibank) says, “Inflation is a major risk if you hold large sums of cash permanently, because it reduces the buying power of cash.” Put simply, inflation may erode the value of your investments over time.

We mentioned government securities above. These come in the form of treasury bills, treasury notes, and treasury bonds. Bills have the shorter term (less than a year), and bonds have the longest term. Government securities are generally low risk since the government guarantees to meet its obligations and pay the published interest rate.

But since you mentioned that you want to grow your money, it may be wise to look into other forms of investment as well to achieve your goals:

1. Stocks or equities may give you high possible returns over the long term, but these come with high risk, which you don’t seem to want to assume at this time.
2. Bonds may also give you good rates of return, but these also come with some form of risk, although lower than that of stocks.
3. Pooled funds come in the form of mutual funds or unit investment trust funds (UITFs) and depending on their nature may be invested in stocks alone, bonds alone, money market funds (government securities and commercial papers), or a combination of these.

To keep your money safe and make it grow at the same time, we advise that you do what wise investors have been doing all along: Diversify! Keep some funds in bank deposits, some in government securities, and some in pooled funds. Since you may have other financial goals and may have a timetable in needing your funds later on (example, for retirement), we advise that you consult a financial professional who will assess your risk profile and suggest the best possible allocation of your investments.

You may also invest your money in tangible assets such as real estate property. However, market values fluctuate over time, so be prepared for any eventuality. Investing in a business also comes with a high risk as not all businesses realize income. Jewelry and art are also forms of investment, but bear in mind that it may take a while for their value to increase. Converting them to cash may also take a longer time should you find the need to do so.

Whatever investments you go into, study all aspects thoroughly. Look into the pros and cons before deciding. We wish you the best.
Entry Credit: http://business.inquirer.net/

*Disclaimer: Those who happened to read the article above are solely responsible for their own investment decisions and should consult professional advice from financial experts or analysts.Thegetwealthy.com will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained from our web site. Thegetwealthy.com receives no compensation of any kind from companies or industries or funds that are mentioned above.

Mutual Fund

We collated and researched online on the different definitions of Mutual Fund. Here:

What is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.^[1] The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then typically distributed to the investors annually

- Wikipedia

***

A mutual fund collectively pools money from individual and corporate investors. These funds are managed by a professional fund manager who invests the money in stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and/or other securities. The mutual fund earns in two ways: from the capital gain (increase in value) of the security and dividend or interest income. These proceeds, net of whatever charges and expenses, are passed along to the shareholders. The value of a share of the mutual fund, called the Net Asset Value (NAV), is calculated daily based on the fund’s total value divided by the total number of outstanding shares.

There are mainly four types of mutual funds in the Philippines: stock (or equity), bond, balanced, and money market.

-Pinoymonetalk.com

***

Mutual funds are similar to UITFs or Unit Investment Trust Funds, to make investment much simpler, more accessible, and more cost effective for small investors.

The sale and trading of mutual funds, stocks, and bonds is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a government agency that protects investors from fraud and theft. However, the value of your investment in a mutual fund (or an individual stock or bond) is not guaranteed by the SEC or by any other government institution.You can lose money on a mutual fund investment — in an extreme case, even all your money. However, the safety track record of most mutual funds is quite good.

-Investingpinoy.com

Advantages in Investing in a Mutual Fund

Mutual funds provide a combination of benefits to investors which cannot be matched by other investment instruments. These advantages are as follows:

Professional Management

Full-time professional managers are the ones who manage the mutual funds. Their job is to analyze the various investment products available in the market and select those that would give the best possible returns to the fund and its shareholders.

Low Capital Requirement

A minimum investment of Php1,000 to Php5,000 is enough to start with. Most mutual funds in the Philippines require a minimum initial investment amount of only Php5,000.00 and minimum additional investments of Php1,000.00.

Diversification

There is a saying that goes, “Do not put all your eggs in one basket.” This adage is especially true in the world of investments which is full of uncertainties. There is no such thing as a “sure” thing. Diversification is the key to manage risk. When people invest in a mutual fund, they achieve instant diversification because the fund is usually invested in a wide array of securities.

Liquidity

Liquidity is the ability to readily convert investments into cash. While the law provides that redemption proceeds must be given within seven (7) banking days from the date of the redemption request, most funds are able to pay the redemption proceeds within a day. Mutual funds are, therefore, considered very liquid investments.

Safety

Mutual funds are highly regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act and its implementing rules. They are prohibited from investing in particular investment products and engaging in certain transactions (this is discussed in greater detail in a latter section). All of the fund’s assets must be held by a custodian bank for a safekeeping.

Potential Higher Returns

Because a mutual fund is managed as a single portfolio, it is able to take advantage of certain economies of scale. For instance, with its millions under management, it can negotiate for lower stockbrokerage fees or command higher interest rates on fixed-income investments. In the end, however, it is still the investment adviser who really makes the big difference between making direct investments and investing in mutual funds because very few individual investors can match the experience and skill of full-time professional fund managers.

Convenience

In other countries, mutual funds can be purchased directly from a funds or through a broker, financial planner, bank or insurance agent, by mail, over the phone and increasingly over the internet. The popularity of mutual funds in the Philippines is fast catching up. It may be a matter of time for this level of convenience to be a reality in the country. Funds also offer a variety of other services, including monthly or quarterly account statements, tax information, and 24-hour phone and computer access to fund and account information.

-Pinoysmartsavers.com

Our Mutual Fund

Our current mutual fund is Philequity. Why? We made researches and it’s so far one of the best mutual fund to invest in the Philippines. It got lots of awards and recognitions in the financial field and as an investor of Philequity, I’m in deed very satisfied with it.

You may visit PSE for the list of mutual funds you might want. As an advice, know the company first, before putting your money in it.

-thegetwealthy.com

LINKS:

Wikipedia

Pinoymoneytalk.com

Investingpinoy.com

Pinoysmartsavers.com

GetWealthyIn

PhilEquity

Where To Invest Your Money

When I first engaged myself in the world of stock market, I have lots of questions and apprehensions. That’s when I tagged myself as a “newbie”. Certainly, I’ve been wanting to know how to trade and invest money thru stocks when I was in the university but never get the chance to have a hands-on training or sit with a stock market expert.

I learned much on financial education and how money works for me just early this year, 2009 when I joined the great people at International Marketing Group (IMG). This is the time I know that financial security is a priority for everyone. Hence, I came to value the worth of my money, investing it to where it could earn double or triple or more. That’s money working hard for me!

Confuse on where to invest your money where it could earn more at bigger interest rate still an issue? No worries, I will share my experiences in where I invested my money.

Point 1

First to consider is to secure yourself, which is, SAVING for your future. It is important that you have LONG-Term Healthcare, Life Insurance, and Investment. Just these three!

*Healthcare – the very basic and first to secure. Why? To get sick is really expensive. People who don’t have healthcare but have lots of money in the bank will just exhaust their savings just to pay for their medical expenses. You don’t want to touch your savings or income right? Then get a healthcare program that will pay your hospital bills and medicare if the need arises. Philhealth is not just enough (for Pinoys). Your savings are still intact if you get your own personal healthcare!

*Life Insurance- if you’re the breadwinner of the family and in the event that you lose your job or death cut your life short, the family you left behind could still continue their living as Life Insurance companies will give the coverage benefits to them. Or when you get disabled and you can’t function doing your normal job, life insurance will support you to start a new life! So get one!

*Investment- if you have extra money, then you could start to look for something new to start to grow your money. You may want to acquire solid assets like houses, cars, business, etc. Or you may participate in the Stock Market where you could earn high returns of your money but also with high risk! But risk is manageable if you know how to deal and play with it which is easy to learn. For first timers, investing in Mutual Fund is advisable.

Yes! I got those three on the second quarter of the year. How? When I joined IMG, they have a business partner that caters to the three above. It’s an all-in-one program! I’m positive in getting the Kaiser Premium Health Builder. This is my SECURED investment/long-term investment. It’s giving me back a fix 10% annual compounded interest for 10 years or more. SECURED? Money put in this program is placed in stock bonds and other securities and is managed by professionals.

Note: Returns that yield a rate of interest from 12% below is a SECURED investment. Anything beyond that is a Risky one!

Point 2

The next thing I took advantage of is putting my money in Mutual Funds. If interested in joining the stock market but with no experience at all, mutual fund is what I recommend that you engage in.

Mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities. The mutual fund will have a fund manager that trades the pooled money on a regular basis. The net proceeds or losses are then typically distributed to the investors annually-Wikipedia.

My mutual fund at the moment is PhilEquity. It is the Philippine’s best performing equity fund in a 10-year, 5-year, 3-year category. Now, make your winning investment today!

Point 3

Having quite an ample of knowledge on financial education. I started to actively participate in the stock market. I have 2 mentors, friends and online buddies (forums) who helped me in how to deal with the stock market! I say, it’s addictive!

Investing in the stock market involves risk. Why? It’s giving you high return of your money! 12% more, even 100% , 200% and even more than that! That’s why it’s risky! Your loss might be equivalent to that rate. But in any market condition, it’s guaranteed that you will be earning! It’s just how you play it.

To date, I already earned 45% return of my stock investment in the span of 2 months. I was able to play around with Megaworld’s (MEG) stocks and yeah, profit-taking is done! Will be divulging information on stock trading in my next post!

RULE in Stock Market Trading: Buy LOW, Sell HIGH!

Links:

International Marketing Group (IMG)

Kaiser Premium Health Builder

Mutual Fund

PhilEquity