Philam unit passes P15-B mark in assets

The assets under management (AUM) of Philam Asset Management Inc. (PAMI) had passed the P15-billion mark as of end-June this year.

PAMI is the wholly-owned mutual fund management firm of the Philippine American Life and General Insurance (Philamlife), which, in turn, is a member company of global financial giant American International Group (AIG).

PAMI has set an AUM full year 2003 target of P10 billion. However, it was surpassed in the first three months prompting a rescheduling to P15 billion,which was later reset to P18 billion.

"But with an average of between P800 million to P1 billion AUM per month, we expect  our superiors to reset targets to a higher level very soon," Rex Ma. A. Mendoza, PAMI president and chief executive officer, said.

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle that allows small to large investors the opportunity to invest in various earnings instruments including the stock market, bond and securities market. The fund, which is managed by a fund manager, pools the money of institutional investors with that of the small investors. It is divided into bonds, stockmarket and money market funds.

The PAMI-managed funds are invested in corporate debt papers, special savings, government securities, ROPs, and US Treasury Bonds.

The country’s mutual fund industry registered a combined net asset of P25.808 billion in 2002 up by 126 percent from the P11.4 billion recorded the year before.

The Investment Company Association of the Philippines (ICAP) said that the mutual fund industry’s total assets could double this year to almost P50 billion. Last year, the bond fund market alone exploded from a mere P8.423 billion at end 2001 to P23.5 billion, a 179-percent increase.