Mutual fund industry AUMs hit record P63.2B in March

The total assets under management (AUMs) of the country’s mutual fund industry expanded by 34.29 percent, or from P47.06 billion in end March 2004 to P63.2 billion in the same period this year.

Biggest AUMs were parked with the bond funds amounting to a whopping P58.5 billion followed by the P2.6 billion in the balanced funds.

Bond funds are invested in the fixed and relatively safe bond market mostly in government securities with a sprinkling of corporate papers.

Balanced funds are AUMs placed in both the country’s stock market or in bluechip listed companies, and another percentage in the bond market.

Third largest fund is located in the equity or stock funds amounting to P1.4 billion, followed by the index funds with P508 million and the money market funds amounting to P104 million.

Equity or stock funds are assets parked with bluechip companies listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Meanwhile, index fund is a basket of assets that basically track or mimic the PSE index or Phisix. Money market funds are investments made with the currency market.

Single biggest mutual fund is the Ayala Life Fixed Income Fund (classified among the bond funds) with P30 billion, and the biggest combined mutual funds is P33.8 billion, both managed by the BPI Asset Management Group (BPI-AMG) of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

Of the total AUMs handled by the mutual fund industry, US dollar-based funds reached P15.7 billion or slightly more than a quarter of the total.

The bond funds are the Ayala Life Fixed Income Fund (ALFM), ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Grepalife Fixed Income Fund, Legacy GS Fund, Legacy TD Fund, MAA Privilege Dollar Fixed Income, MAA Privilege Peso Fund, Philam Bond Fund, Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance, and Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund.

The balanced funds are the First Gallleon Family Fund, GSIS Kinabukasan Fund, Legacy HY Fund, MFCP Kabuhayan Fund, Philam Fund, Sun Life Prosperity Balanced, and Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advant.

Equity or stock funds are the Philam Strategic Growth Funds, Philequity Fund, Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity, and United Fund.

Money market fund is the Sun Life Prosperity Money Market, and the only index fund is the Philippine Index Fund (PIF).

There are 11 funds managers handling 26 mutual funds. The three biggest fund managers are the BPI-AMG, the Sunlife Financial Philippines, and the Philamlife Asset Management Inc. (Pami).

The BPI-AMG handles the ALFM, the ALFM Dollar Fund, and the PIF.

Sunlife Financial Philippines manages the Sun Life Prosperity Bond Fund, Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance, and Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund.

The Pami takes care of the Philam Bond Fund, Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Philam Fund, GSIS Kinabukasan Fund, and the Philam Strategic Growth Funds.

Newest fund is the Grepalife Fixed Income Fund of the Yuchengco Group of Companies.

Mutual funds is one of the profitable savings instruments for small investors. Funds receive as low as P2,000 (in the case of the GSIS Kinabukasan Fund) or the standard initial amount of between P5,000 to P10,000.