More Pinoys putting cash into mutual funds – exec

MORE middle-income Filipinos are investing in mutual funds.

“Middle class investors have increased as well as the business class. We could say that a larger portion of the population can already invest because of the increased purchasing power as a result of many economic activity in the country now that created jobs,” said Karen Liza M. Roa, president and chief executive officer of PhilAm Asset Management Inc. (PAMI).

Roa said the mutual fund industry had grown to pre-crisis level increasing from P65 billion in 2008 to P90 billion today.

The firm’s portfolio of investors had also shifted from mostly high-end to middle class individuals investing in mutual funds.

A mutual fund is a collective type of investment that pools money from investors to buy stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments and other securities.

With this trend the firm is targeting the market especially the overseas Filipino workers sector and the business process outsource workers as their potential clients.

Roa said this would be the best time to launch PAMI Asia Balanced Fund Inc. so that Filipino investors could ride with the economic boom in Asia and tap the best performing industries in the best performing countries without investing so much.

The minimum initial investment for the fund is P5,000, which will be invested in fast growing industries in countries like Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and South Korea./Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap