Sun Life fund manager sees Phl rating upgrade

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, along with Indonesia and Thailand, as well as the rest of Asia, will remain the key growth drivers of global economy, according to a major fund manager of one of the largest pool of mutual funds in the country.

Sun Life Asset Management Co. Inc. (SLAMC) also said that the Philippines is anticipating a sovereign credit upgrade from the world’s credit rating agencies.

“It will boost investor sentiment (on the Philippines),” Valerie N. Pama, chief operating officer of SLAMC, said. SLAMC is the fund management subsidiary of the Sun Life Financial Philippines.

“The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) will continue its uptrend as the Philippine economy is expected to grow five to six percent in 2012. The national government’s pledge to improve spending to pump prime the economy will boost that optimistic outlook. In addition, PPP (public-private partnership) projects are expected to be rolled out this year,” Pama added.

She added: “We have been resilient in 2011, we will remain so in 2012 and the country is ready to weather any difficulties that may come our way.”

The Sun Life fund manager aid that for much of 2011, investors shed substantial risks as they anticipated the worst – a double dip recession in the US and catastrophe surrounding the eurozone debt crisis.

Last year also witnessed the very damaging tsunami in Japan, the struggle to cap large deficits in other developed countries and political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa.

“Considering all these, 2011 could be generally described as ‘turbulent’,” Pama said.

But despite the global challenges, the Philippines remained resilient and persevering. In fact, the budget deficit for 2011 was down to P96 billion, much lower than the P267 billion recorded the previous year.

From January to October 2011, OFW remittances were $16.5 billion, up seven percent from the previous year and within the government’s target of six to eight percent.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently reported a 7.3-percent increase in remittances to $18.3 billion, covering the 11 months of 2011).

Average inflation for 2011 was at 4.8 percent, within the three to five percent target of the government.

The Philippines’ credit rating and outlook were upgraded by international credit rating agencies.

The Philippine stock market index also established a new all-time high of 4,550 in August. 

For the year, the Philippines finished as the best performing market in Asia-Pacific, up by 4.1 percent.

Indonesia placed second at +2.19 percent, while all the other Asia-Pacific countries were in the red.

The peso bonds rallied in the last semester of the year as demand for risk-free government debt remained robust.

SLAMC manages seven mutual funds under the Sun Life Prosperity (SLP)

Family of Funds, including fixed or bond fund, equity fund, balanced fund, government securities fund, money market fund, and dollar-denominated funds.

 The total assets under SLAMC’s care are worth P21.46 billion at the end of 2011.

The SLP Balanced Fund is P8.67 billion in assets under management (AUM) or funds from the investing public entrusted to SLAMC for growth.

The SLP Philippine Equity Fund has investments worth P5.05 billion.

The other funds with their asset worth are: SLP Bond Fund, P4.77 billion; SLP Dollar Advantage Fund, P1.18 billion; SLP GS Fund, P690 million; SLP Dollar Abundance Fund, P520 million; and the SLP Money Market Fund, P520 million.

The one-year return of the bond fund grew by 8.10 percent, the three-year return was 23.7 percent, and the five-year return was 28.8 percent.

Roughly, an investment made a year ago would have grown by 8.10 percent, and an investment made three years ago would have earned 23.7 percent.

The one-year return of the balanced fund is 3.5 percent, three-year return is 64.7 percent, and the five-year return is 47.2 percent.

The equity fund reported one-year returns of 2.9 percent, three-year returns of 108.5 percent, and five-year returns of 56.9 percent.

The GS fund reflected a one-year return of 6.7 percent, three-year return of 26.7 percent, and five-year return of 32.8 percent.

The one-year return of the money market fund is 0.40 percent, 2.6 percent for three-years, and 6.9 percent for five years.

The dollar abundance fund reflected a 5.9 percent one-year return, 32.1 percent three-year return, and 26.1 percent five-year return.

Finally, the dollar advantage fund shrunk by 1.2 percent for the one-year period, grew by 13 percent in the three-year period, and seven percent in the five-year period.