COL Financial Cebu moves to new office

CEBU, Philippines — Online stock brokerage firm, COL Financial Inc., has expanded its reach in Cebu, noting the increased demand for stock market investing, not only from savvy investors but also from the young working population.

“The [Cebuano] crowd has matured. During the pandemic a lot of self-learning took place, a lot of them are investing in the stock market,” said Juan Barredo, chief customer experience officer, and vice president at COL Financial Inc.,

COL Financial recently opened a new and bigger office in One Montage Tower located along Archbishop Reyes Avenue in Cebu City. This is to prepare for the influx of clients from Cebu putting their money into stocks.

The brokerage firm first made its physical presence in Cebu in 2017 at the Axis Entertainment Avenue in Escario Street.

According to Barredo, after the pandemic, the interest in the market—across demographics has heightened, and many among the working class have appreciated stock market investments, particularly young professionals.

“After the pandemic, a lot of young people, the crowd have matured in terms of investing in the stock market, as compared to 7 to 10 years ago,” he said.

Barredo reported that during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, COL Financial saw account openings of 5,000 to 6,000 a month “when most Filipinos stayed at home glued to their smartphones where a lot of self-learning took place. Two months after, it hit 12,000 account openings per month.”

However, as the country’s economic posture is recovering from the effects of the pandemic and facing the consequences of external crises like the Russia and Ukraine war, investors in the stock market are also taking their time and preparing for the right timing.

Barredo explained that if not for the high inflation rate, and the wild interest rates, the Philippines by this time is hitting its growth potential, thereby affecting the confidence of the stock market investors.

“We feel 2023 is the opportunity to buy this now (stocks) at this price because once interest rates go down, you’re never going to get these prices again. We won’t be opening offices if the market is flying already. That’s going to be too late. We want to get our investors ready while prices are nice, cheap, and attractive as well as teach them how to understand the market,” he explained.

At this point, Barredo said investors are holding off their money, as high-interest rates are affecting the earnings of companies’ stock prices, and are also on a wait-and-see mode, holding on to their cash before putting it to various investment channels.

But, this scenario is seen not to stay for long, and some investors are now positioning to be there when the market rises. “We are now talking about timing and how long it would take for the market to (gradually) progress.”

“Interest rates and inflation must go down. They must go down to a more manageable level. Once that happens, your stock market will explode on the upside. A lot of those people who are in buying positions today are preparing for that. We feel 2023 is the bottoming year,” added Barredo adding that when this happens, stock market investment in the Philippines, including the maturing market in Cebu and other regions will see a historical upswing that has not been seen in recent years.