Scouting for investment options

Philippine Daily Inquirer

TODAY’S volatile markets can make anyone uneasy about their finances.

Most would in fact prefer to weather the storm by holding on to cash or maintaining bank deposits, rather than putting them in bonds, corporate notes and other investment instruments.

With the right strategy, however, one can find opportunities to benefit even in this crisis.

There is no miracle cure for market turbulence, but there are ways to mitigate the risk associated with volatile financial markets, and eventually place one’s self in a position to earn stable if not higher returns in the long run.

Lower returns

Holding on to money may be perceived to be of less risk in the short term, but keeping it idle may eventually translate to lower returns and diminished purchasing power due to inflation.

An option worth considering rather than keeping money in cash is participating in an investment fund, where the money of many investors is pooled into one big fund. Placing money in an investment fund allows investors several benefits.

They get access to experienced fund managers who constantly monitor and balance investment risks with return objectives through diversification and other strategies.

They also get better pricing on the purchase and sale of securities as these are dealt in the professional market, which is not usually available to individual clients with smaller amounts of funds.

“One such investment fund is the money market fund. This is one viable option for people who want to minimize the risk on their capital while meeting their short term liquidity needs,” says Josefina E. Sulit, Metrobank executive vice president and head of trust banking group.

In the investment world, a money market fund is considered the most conservative investment fund because its portfolios are invested primarily in assets such as short term government bonds and bank time deposits that are easily converted to cash and also provide better yields than traditional deposit products.

According to Sulit, Metrobank money market fund portfolios are invested in these assets by as much as 80 percent for MetroDollar Money Market Fund and 100 percent for the peso-denominated Metrofund Starter.

Good alternatives

“When there are financial uncertainties, money market funds are considered a good investment alternative, for as long as one sticks to the recommended investment horizon,” shares Sulit, who has been in the business of trust banking and investments for the past 30 years.

A weekly industry comparison of money market funds’ year-on-year returns showed that MetroDollar Money Market Fund and Metrofund Starter have consistently figured among the top performers of products in the same category and have consistently provided very competitive returns.

For example, as of Dec. 24, 2008, the performance of Metrofund Starter is 4.55 percent year-on-year and MetroDollar Money Market Fund is 4.56 percent.

“Fund management is an area that Metrobank has proven to be an expert on. No matter what the prevailing economic conditions are, the welfare of all our clients and other stakeholders is top priority. This means balancing the interests of our clients and complying with our regulators such as the BSP who strictly monitors our industry,” says Sulit.

Professional managers

Although times are tough all around the world, and it may stay that way this year, investors will have the distinct advantage of having their funds managed by professionals.