BPI accumulates record P633 B in AUMs

MANILA, Philippines - The BPI Asset Management and Trust Group (BPI-AMTG) has reported that its total assets under management (AUMs) as of end June 2011 amounted to P633.161 billion, up 30.4 percent from the end year 2010 assets worth P485.253 billion.

BPI-AMTG is a subsidiary of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

As a whole, the group manages mutual funds, unit investment trust funds (UITFs), the Odyssey funds, and other funds including funds in escrow, reserve of pre-need companies, corporate and institutional funds, pension and provident funds.

Largest of these in terms of valuation, is the mutual funds, bulk of which are invested in fixed income or bond funds in peso-denominated instruments. Its assets are worth P45.9 billion.

Under the banner of the ALFM family, the mutual funds are also invested in a strategic fund, US dollar and euro fixed income funds, stock index fund, and money market.

The next largest is the Odyssey fund, which were originally funds managed by the asset and investment group of ING Bank. It was acquired by BPI and now known as such.

The Odyssey funds are 13 UITFs with asset values of P29.9 billion. These funds are in earning instruments such as variants of fixed income peso-denominated funds, variants of US dollar-denominated bond funds, variants of Philippine equity funds, global equity funds, balanced funds, and money market funds.

The UITFs under the direct management of group recorded assets worth P27.5 billion. The other funds are worth P529.7 billion.

BPI senior vice president and head of AMTG Maria Theresa M. Javier said that the best performing funds are still the equity funds, which have on the average increased by 28 percent. However, the biggest fund in terms of volume was still the fixed income or bonds funds.

“The low interest rate continue to attract the market towards the equity or securities market,” Javier said.

Continued anxiety over the developed market, epecially with the recent downgrade of the United States, continues to favor the emerging market. And the Philippine equity market has received its fair share of attention from the large and medium capital venture firms.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) has again recorded new record levels. It has broken the 4,500-level and up till Friday sustained its run.

“Increase foreign buying has been spotted moving in towards the end of the second quarter, while the good news is that domestic investments take up over 60 percent of new investments,” the BPI senior official said.

BPI will stick with its original forecast that the PSEi will end at the 4,800-level, albeit the market is talking about aggressive levels of 5,000 within the next 12 months.

“We are now in the higher end among the region’s bourse,” Javier said. “We are 14 times P/E (price over earnings) ratio based on 2011 earnings forecast.”

There is likewise noticeable stock picking and selective investing over across-the-board buying.

The BPI senior vice president said that while the market has been expanding by 10 to 15 percent on the average, there is a bias towards mining, commodities, energy, property-based, and other infrastructure-related issues.

Gold is all time high, as other commodities are marching aggressively. Oil was originally forecast at the $106 per barrel level but the dominant sentiment is to average in the $98 per barrel level.

“Inflation in Southeast Asia has moderated, and it will likely remain in the vicinity of 4.8 to five percent in the Philippines for the rest of the year,” Javier added.