Easy Investing in UITF at BPI

Are you looking for other places to invest your money? Try a Unit Investment Trust Fund or UITF. BPI has 10 UITFs that you can choose from.

You can start with as low as only P10,000 for peso funds, and $500 for dollar funds. If you wish you add or do a partial redemption, the minimum amount is now P1,000 (for peso-denominated funds) and $200 (for dollar-denominated funds).

And the best part about this is you can choose which of the ten funds to invest your money in.

Just remember that with higher returns comes higher risk.

In other words, investments in equity (stock market) or balanced funds (fixed income or bonds + stocks) will yield higher returns that investments in purely fixed income instruments. They also come with a higher risk, which means you can lose your investment (if you decide to redeem your UITFs when the price is so low).

Why is the investment so low at only P10,000? BPI pools the cash from so many individual investors.

Now what makes investing so easy?

BPI Asset Management Group head and senior vice president Theresa M. Javier mentioned to Rica Delfinado (PhilStar, 15 November 2010) that clients can contribute smaller amounts on a regular basis, through a Regular Subscription Plan Facility.

For example, you can request BPI to move funds from your BPI deposit settlement account to regularly (e.g., monthly, quarterly). How's that for automatic forced savings, right? Reminds me of The Millionaire Mind.

The moved funds (for example, P2000 every month) will then be used to purchase units of the investment funds no matter what the prevailing NAV price is. Zero hassle, which is perfect for the long-term investor.

And you can even keep track of your investment portfolio online, via your MyPortfolio page at BPI Expressonline. In the future, you can even go online and place your contribution or redemption orders.

But I'm excited about the automatic investment feature. Talk about convenient!

Well...

I rushed to a BPI branch (won't say exactly where), and the person told me the minimum investment in a UITF was P50,000. I should've brought the newspaper with me. Anyway, she said that no word was sent to them.

Then when I asked about the minimum contributions, she said I could add as low as P1,000 but that I have to go to the bank each time, since they will not automatically move the funds.

Perhaps she didn't get the memo?

Anyway, if ever you go to your BPI branch of account, please use terms like:

• Regular Subscription Plan Facility
  
• BPI Deposit Settlement Account
  

For my fellow Filipinos who are excited about investing, just please remember that stock brokers and mutual fund managers are not doing their work out of the goodness of their hearts. Your financial goals might not always be the same as their financial goals.

If you can live with that, and if you are willing to make your money work for you (in spite of the risks associated with stocks and mutual funds), then go ahead and try investing in UITFs today.

[ First posted on 11/17/2010 by Manuel Viloria ]