Asset manager to introduce mutual fund for cooperatives

FUND manager Philam Asset Management Inc. (Pami) – Cebu will be conducting a series of road shows in the Visayas before the yearend to introduce its new mutual fund for cooperatives.

Pami senior manager for the Visayas Imelda Estada said that the National Cooperative Mutual Fund of the Phils. Inc. (NCMFP) hopes to link cooperatives so they could generate more earnings than their usual yields from bank deposits.

Estrada said NCMFP, which was already rolled out in Manila, will also be introduced in Bacolod, Ilo-ilo and Cebu, where Pami holds offices.

“We are bullish in the Cebu market as this is the second biggest market after Manila.

We hope to team up with all the cooperatives in the Visayas,” Estrada said.

She said the fund hopes to provide cooperatives an investment outlet for a minimum investment of P100,000. She said NCMFP is for investors who have moderate to aggressive risk profiles and who prefer a balanced portfolio of securities.

NCMFP is a balanced facility where 50 percent of the fund is invested in equities and the other 50 percent is invested in fixed-income securities. Estrada, however, said that it is at the fund manager’s discretion to invest a substantial amount of the fund’s assets in equities up to the maximum or up to 100 percent in fixed income securities as may be required by law.

According to Pami, NCMFP was formed to give cooperatives nationwide an opportunity to invest their money in mutual funds.

Estrada said the company is aggressive in the promotion of its mutual funds, especially now that it has already gained a wide acceptance among various markets.

Pinebridge Investments Asia Ltd.- Philippine Branch managing director and general manager Wilfredo Son Keng Po said investors have now changed their perception about putting money in the stock market, which was previously identified as for the elite.

“More investors are hungry in getting more yields. They now know that there is value in investing in the stock market rather than putting all their money in the bank,” Son Keng Po said.

NCMFP is an additional product by Pami. Among its other products are Philam Fund, GSIS Mutual Fund, Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Philam Managed Income Fund, AIG Global Fund Phils., Philam Bond Fund and Philam Dollar Bond Fund.