PAMI mutual funds hit P18B in Oct

MANILA, Philippines - The Philam Asset Management Inc. (PAMI) is managing a total of P18.47 billion, strategically placed in nine mutual funds as of the month of October this year.

PAMI is the fund manager of all nine funds, and a subsidiary of the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (PhilamLife), the leading insurance and financial institution in the country.

Philamlife, in turn, is an affiliate of the AIA Group, a leading life insurance and financial institution in the Asia Pacific region.

PAMI executive vice president Gina Goco-Morales said that the P18.47-billion assets under management (AUMs) was one of the company’s highest.

“The highest AUM was P23.2 billion recorded in July 2011,” Morales said.

The major factor weighing against a record performance so far was the nagging state of affairs in the eurozone and the US market.

The negative sentiment on the markets comes from fears regarding the slowdown of the global economy, dictated by the eurozone debt crisis and the weak US economy.

Domestically, economic data point to a relative slowdown in the growth to between 4.5 to five percent for 2011, and within the five percent vicinity in 2012.

Likewise, the seeming inability of the National Government to spend on infrastructure development, and the fickle Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on issues of land and air transportation, adds pressure on the economy.

The positive note remains with dollar remittances from overseas Filipinos, which has been growing by over six percent enroute to another record volume.

Meanwhile, the PAMI Strategic Growth Fund (PSGF) reported the largest volume among the nine mutual funds managed by PAMI.

By October, it amounted to a little over P5 billion followed by the PAMI Bond Fund (PBF) with funds worth P4 billion.

The PSGF is invested in equity securities while the PBF invests in fixed income, peso-denominated instruments.

The PAMI Fund Inc. (PFI), which invested in equity securities and fixed income securities reached nearly P3.6 billion.

The PAMI Dollar Bond Fund (PDBF) reached a peso value of P3.1 billion while the GSIS Mutual Fund Inc. (GMFI) managed a little over P1.28 billion.

The other funds are: PAMI Asia Balanced Fund (PABF), P671 million; PAMI Global Bond Fund (PGBF), P333 million; NCM Mutual Fund of the Philippines (NCMF), nearly P259 million; PAMI Managed Income Fund (PMIF), P53 million.

A mutual fund is an investment company that pools the savings of individuals and institutional investors.

These investors buy shares of the mutual fund and become shareholders of the fund.

The mutual fund has specific investment objectives and strategies. Investors buy and sell shares of the fund based on the prevailing net asset value per share (NAVPS).