BPI sees 14% rise in mutual-fund value in 2010
Written by Erik dela Cruz / Reporter (Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:56)
THE ALFM Family of Funds, the largest group of mutual funds in the Philippines and managed by BPI Investment Management Inc. (BAMI), will likely post an average 14-percent growth in net-asset value this year given improved investor sentiment, the funds’ managers said on Thursday.
Adelbert Legasto, executive vice president and head of asset management and trust group at the Ayala Group’s Bank of the Philippine Islands, painted a rosy outlook for ALFM mutual funds this year and was particularly bullish about yields from the equities market.
BAMI is a wholly owned unit of BPI, which ended the first quarter with total trust assets of P447 billion. Assets under management by BPI have grown to around P460 billion, according to Legasto.
“The market conditions are very ripe for investors to start looking for better returns as interest rates have started to move down and offer very low yields,” he said at a news briefing. “You can actually get better yields when investing in mutual funds.”
Legasto said that among asset classes, equities were expected to be the best performer. “Fundamentals are pretty good yet prices are still low.”
Given the improved bottom lines of listed companies, he said investors should get better yields in the equities market than in the bond market. He also noted that some “very conservative” investors have actually shifted into the mutual fund business because of the low interest rate environment, which has resulted in reduced yields particularly from bank deposit products.
The ALFM funds continued to achieve positive returns for investors last year, Legasto said, “while keeping risks appropriately managed and minimized.”
The BPI-managed mutual funds are the ALFM Peso Bond Fund, ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, ALFM Euro Bond Fund, ALFM Growth Fund, Philippine Stock Index Fund and ALFM Money Market Fund. He said these funds cornered a combined 45-percent share of the P68.7-billion mutual fund industry, which grew 14.5 percent last year.
The industry suffered a 30-percent contraction in 2008 when investor sentiment dropped amid the global financial crisis.
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