PhilEquity mutual funds hit P1.84B

Total assets managed by PhilEquity Management Inc. has reached P1.84 billion at the end of 2006, or a 64-percent growth from the total assets under management (AUMs) of P1.12 billion in 2005.

PhilEquity Management is the asset manager of four mutual funds. These are funds invested in the bond market, equities market, dollar bond market, and the Philippine Stock Exchange index fund.

Of the four funds, the equity fund grew from P771.92 million in 2005 to P1.41 billion last year, for an 83-percent growth. In terms of net asset value (NAV), the equity fund grew by 52.24 percent year-to-date.

From a three-year average period, it grew by 31.96 percent, and by 25.26 percent in a five-year period.

Next best performer was the PSE index fund, which expanded by 42.28 percent from P30.89 million in 2005 to P43.95 million last year. In terms of NAV, it grew by 38.35-percent YTD.

Dollar bond fund grew by 33 percent to P192.9 million last year from P145 million in 2005. It also grew by an impressive 7.95 percent in terms of net asset value.

And as expected, the peso bond fund faired poorly failing to grow by 10 percent in asset size as interest rates fell last year, and most investors shifted to the equity market. From P176 million in 2006, it grew to just P192.6 million. In terms of net asset value, it grew by a modest 15.85-percent YTD.

For 2007, the PhilEquity Management will introduce three new funds to meet the sophisticated appetite of its stakeholder base.

Philequity Management executive vice president Hector C. de Leon refused to outline the proposed new products, merely stating that these products will be among the first of its kind in the Philippine fund market.

Incidentally, the asset manager has moved to the 27th floor of the EastTower, PSE Center in Ortigas from the 21st, with landline number 6389990 to 93.

"It will be unique, new to the industry, and very flexible," De Leon added.

Since last year, the compliment both in the backroom and front-end expanded by more than 50 percent as its client base, both institutional and retail.

Before the end of the year, PhilEquity Management hopes to go scriptless or paper-less thus reducing costs and risks for both operations and for the convenience and security of its stakeholders.

Going scriptless means improving its information technology (IT) capabilities, and enrolling in the Philippine Central Depository (PCD).

Strengthening its backroom and front-end personnel including IT capabilities, is also critical for PhilEquity Management’s thrust in expanding its market of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and migrant Filipinos. – Ted Torres