Updated: May 30, 2020
A friend of mine gave me yesterday a brochure from the Bank of the Philippine Islands. It’s a marketing flyer about the different BPI Investment Funds.
He was hoping for me to have a look at it and eventually help him decide which one to invest in.
But I said to him that I’m not in the position to tell him where to invest but we can go through each one and I’ll do my best to answer his questions about the different fund investments that BPI is offering.
And so we sat down for some coffee and went through the brochure.
Whenever you are thinking of investing in mutual funds or any other instruments, the first thing you really need to know is your investment or financial goal.
Ask yourself first why do you want to invest?
Your reasons and objectives for investing are important because it’s the biggest factor that affects your investment risk tolerance.
The BPI Investment Funds consists of several fund instruments, and depending on how much risk you can afford, you can consequently choose to be conservative, moderate or aggressive in your investments.
CONSERVATIVE / MODERATELY CONSERVATION
If you are a conservative investor who wants to minimize risk but wants to earn better and steady returns than term deposit products, then this investment fund is right for you.
BPI Invest Short Term Fund
A Money Market Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.50%.
BPI Invest Money Market Fund
A Money Market Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.25%.
BPI Invest Premium Bond Fund
An Intermediate Bond Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.50%.
BPI Invest US Dollar Short Term Fund
A Money Market Fund that requires an initial investment of USD$ 500 and USD$ 200 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.50%.
MODERATE / MODERATELY AGGRESSIVE
If you are a moderate risk investor who wants to increase the value of yoru portfolio over the medium to long-term and who is willing to take temporary price fluctuations, then these investment funds are ideal for you.
BPI Invest Global Bond Fund-of-Funds
A Bond Fund-of-Funds that requires an initial investment of USD$ 500 and USD$ 200 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.75%.
ABF Philippines Bond Index Fund
A Bond Index Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.08% and the Management Fee is 0.186%.
AGGRESSIVE
If you are an aggressive invstor who is willing to take the risk of negative fluctuations in returns over the medium to long-term, including the possibility of incurring a loss in exchange for really superior returns, then these investment funds are for you.
BPI Invest Balanced Fund
A Balanced Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.50%.
BPI Invest Equity Value Fund
An Equity Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.50%.
BPI Invest Philippine High Dividend Equity Fund
An Equity Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.50%.
BPI Invest Philippine Equity Index Fund
An Equity Index Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.00%.
BPI Invest Catholic Values Global Equity Feeder Fund
An Equity Feeder Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 50,000 and PHP 10,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.50%.
BPI Invest Global Equity Fund-of-Funds
An Equity Fund-of-Funds that requires an initial investment of USD$ 500 and USD$ 200 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.50%.
Philippine Dollar Bond Index Fund
A Bond Index Fund that requires an initial investment of USD$ 500 and USD$ 200 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.25%.
BPI Invest US Equity Index Feeder Fund
A US Equity Index Fund that requires an initial investment of USD$ 1,000 and USD$ 500 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.75%.
BPI Invest European Equity Feeder Fund
A European Equity Feeder Fund that requires an initial investment of USD$ 1,000 and USD$ 500 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.75%.
BPI Fixed Income Portfolio Fund-of-Funds
A Bond Fund-of-Funds that requires an initial investment of PHP 1,000,000 and PHP 10,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is Waived.
BPI Invest Philippine Consumer Equity Index Fund
An Equity Index Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.00%.
BPI Invest Philippine Infrastructure Equity Index Fund
An Equity Index Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000 and PHP 1,000 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.00%.
BPI Invest US Dollar Income Feeder Fund
A Balanced Feeder Fund that requires an initial investment of USD 1,000.00 and USD 500.00 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 1.00%.
BPI Invest Bayanihan Balanced Fund
A Balanced Fund that requires an initial investment of PHP 10,000.00 and PHP 1,000.00 for additional investments. The Trust Fee is 0.30%.
These are the investment funds written on the brochure. Do any of them interest you?
I would like to clarify that I am not connected to BPI and this post is not sponsored by them. This article is part of In Focus wherein I try give specific information about products, people, and businesses that you might find interesting and useful.
Furthermore, if you’re new to investing then I hope you take time to read my series of posts on how to start investing for beginners.
Lastly, if you are interested in any of the investment funds above, then please visit any BPI or BPI Family Bank branch near you or just go to your bank and ask if they have any similar products that they can offer.
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Hmm, I think I wanna be a conservative one. For now since I don’t have enough free money that I could risk. Good entry as always! SALUT!
What investment strategies are there to net at least 8% growth every month? I’m not satisfied with 5% to 10% gains per annum. To me its a waste of effort.
@jonatsgonuts, for a high rate of return, my answer would be to buy, renovate, then sell real estate where a great deal can potentially net about 100% profit in a few months although my last deal only earned me about 30% profit in 55days. However, I had to come up with 20% downpayment and i also got money for repairs through a personal loan.
Been wanting to really invest in mutual funds.
Noobie question, Fitz…
Is it a good time to invest? With the global crisis and all? If so, what are your recos?
Thanks,
Mon
@Mon
Is it a good time to invest now? Some would say it’s a buyer’s market so yes, it’s a good time.
But of course, it all depends on your risk tolerance. In general, mutual funds are good investments if you can afford to hold it for a few years.
Just my two cents. It’s best to ask the financial experts so they can give you better insights. 😀
Thanks, sir. I’ll check it out.
hi,
I am holder of Pre Need Plan from the formerProfessional Education Trust and Pension Inc. My investment there was transferred to BPI and i want to with draw my investment there. How I am going to do this?
Thank you.
Wow! I was surfing through your site and I can’t believe the loads of useful information I found. Thanks so much for sharing. Especially on including news about events in Mindanao (saw the FPP Expo), as I am from Davao. ^^
Sharing my 2 cents on mutual funds. I agree that now’s a good time as any to invest in mutual funds especially if you are planning to invest for the long haul. But investors should also be oriented about the types of Mutual Funds / UITFs available. Usually, conservative investors would prefer investing in Fixed Income funds (BPI short term and Premium fund above / ALFM Peso Bond Fund / ALFM Dollar Bond Fund). While aggressive investors would consider Index/Equity Funds (the ones stated above and the ALFM Philippine Index Fund which follows the Philippine stock market)
As a last note, the BPI Investment products mentioned above are actually classified as UITFs (Unit Investment Trust Fund) and not Mutual Funds. (BPI’s mutual funds are under the ALFM family). Nevertheless, the concepts of both funds are the same, so no big deal about that.
Thanks again. Looking forward to your future posts.
Earn and Save Money Now – Free Personal Finance blog!
The Pinoy Entrepreneur
Hi! Sorry about the FPP Expo thing, I mistook your site for someone else’s. I saw the FPP post at EntrePinoy, my fault. But I truly found your site informative. I’m right now reading the post on how to start a vending machine business. That post just gave me an idea for a possible income generating venture ^^ Thanks.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
saan ba pueding magsimenar tungkul sa stock market trading balak ko sanang maginvest pero wala ako idea tungkol jan
I am interested in mutual fund. How will I know if the companies in ICAP is a good one to invest? How do I monitor my investment justt in case I am in in the investing? How do i know if my investment are gaining or not gaining or rather please advise how to read rates from mutual funds?
Hi Elen, you can look at the performance history of the company to judge if they’re good or not. That report can be requested from ICAP.
Monitoring an investment can be as simple as asking the company the current value of your investment – then deciding if it’s time for you to cash out or wait it out.
Sometimes, the value can go high for a limited time and if you don’t monitor your investment, you could miss a good opportunity to cash out and earn.
Cheers!
I am a newbie to these investment programs. What are the risk of losing my money in BPI short term fund.
[…] Also, just in case you’re with BPI, here’s a list of the BPI Investment Funds. […]
Is it easy to cash out? Or will you need some time to process papers, etc?
@Judith – very little risk as it’s a conservative fund.
@Bam – yes, very easy, it will not take you more than a week; most of the time, it will just take two banking days.
how much po minimun investment sa mutual funds? salamat po
I’ve been looking at banks and interest rates.. very low annual interest rate even if deposit is over 300k.
I’ll be reviewing BPI Short Term Fund. I’m very conservative becaue this is money I worked very hard for.
I’m also looking at Trust Fund programs. I heard SunLife is good.
[…] stages and investment goals you should go through in your life. Five points which I learned from a BPI Investment Fund manager who taught me about life cycle investing. I hope you will find this information as helpful […]
Regarding with BPI equity fund, I was thinking of investing with this one though im just a newbie. Whats gonna happen if things get worse? Is it gonna be “balik-taya” with the money that I put in or I’m gonna lose it all?
Wow fitz.. nag top pala to… Alam mo na. ^__^
Money Market Funds are parking funds so if you are going to invest on it, you are just like placing money on a savings account so a Time deposit would be much more profitable especially on rural banks.
BPI mutual fund is not listed in icap.com.ph
i can’t decide wether to invest or not.
millettemanaog ,
ALFM FUNDS are BPI
Robert Kiyosaki believes investing for cashflow is better than in investing for capital gains (stocks, bonds, mutual funds). Just like fast food, it is ok to invest for capital gains occasionally, but eating it regularly is not healthy and can be a rip-off in the long run.
I’m a regular reader btw Fitz, love your work, can you please write about the pros and cons of “Back to Back” Loans?
Hi Fitz, nice blog. I’m also fond of earning and prepared to buy assets than liabilities. I’ve learn a lot from ur blog, tnx and keep up the good work…
Hi Fitz,
Whats the best performing mutual fund in the country to invest in right now?
n Is there an ‘OR’ account in mutual funds? Can me and my wife sharw the same certificate?
Thanks and more power to your site!
[…] can read through some examples from my past articles: Here are the investment funds of BPI and here are the UITF products of […]
thanks fritz for the information, i am interested to invest in BPI, thanks for the post.
when you say “medium to long term” with respect to this line of investment, how many years or i should say, how long are we talking about?
Hi Rodrigo, personally, medium to long term is somewhere between 3-7 years.
The way I see it, the objective of everyone thinking about going into investment is to first make money, more money, and second not to lose money in the process in the long run.
So, all that classification of investors into conservative, moderately conservative, moderately aggressive, aggressive is all superfluous.
The question to ask oneself and for funds operators to ask people interested in investing with them is the following:
Do you have excess money which you can see getting lesser with investing in our funds, although in the long run say 3 years time if you don’t pull out your investment, it will earn you more than 3 years time in any time deposit in a bank?
If yes, then invest; if no, then don’t invest.
So, the more excess money you have, the more funds you invest your excess money in, the less excess money you have the less funds you go into.
Which fund is the most productive?
Answer: Any equity fund whether mutual fund or uitf fund, but you must not pull out unless only after 3 years of leaving your investment with the fund operator.
In 3 years time you will see that it has earned much more than any time deposit you put the same money into for 3 years with a bank.
Hi!
Thanks for the all the info. It was really helpful. I’m a young individual looking to invest in BPI short term fund. This is my first time investing and frankly i am excited.
Can anyone recommend a book or article that talks about investing wisely?
Im just started to invest my money in BPI Balanced Fund last May 10,2013….. and im happy coz i got already 1500 pesos interest for 5 days> im planning to add more amount since its working good.
yea,its working good.i invested in BPI equity last November and got 14k for the interest.
hi, i read your blog almost everyday! 🙂 by the way, do you need to have a bpi dollar account to invest in their dollar uitfs? or can you directly give your dollars to them and have it invested in a dollar uitf?
What is the annual interest rate of BPI for short term fund?
@rose,
There is no fixed annual interest, but it would be anywhere between 1% to 4%, higher if the economy continues to go higher.
WHat is the average annual interest rate of the premium bond fund? i need it for a school project 🙂
7.20% gain annual for bpi premium bond fund
Hi,
Can anyone advice me about PNB UITF, I have an account in this bank and wanted to invest in both Balanced and Equity. I´m only waiting for my account to be credited for online registration. Is PNB right now still reliable just like with the other banks. I´m here in Spain and have no time to go research and ask any bank´s financial advicer about this matter.
Any help please. Thank you.
[…] BPI UITF: Short Term Fund […]
hi. how much money will i invest on conservative fund?
i want to invest. what kind of funds will you advice on me.
hi! i watch TV commercial about 10k start BPI investment. im interested can go give me more idea about this investment.
[…] sponsored by BDO, nor is it an endorsement of their Balanced Fund. You should know that I also have UITF investments in BPI, and other […]
Hi Im interested to invest in BPI, Im a newbie.. can someone explain to me idea about investing and some information I need to learn. thanks!
Hi!
Nagapply ako online ng investment account(mutual funds) sa bpiexpressonline. Nagsubmit ako ng documents sa bpi branch sa cubao, pero tagaforward lang daw sila? ganon ba talaga yun? Ni hindi man lang ako tinanong kung anong klaseng mutual fund yung ioopen ko.
Fitz this are very priceless info. Can you do an article where in you breakdown for us in detail all about the short-term investments, like how to start one with BPI, how much is the minimum investment, fees, interest rates and/or how much does one make with different terms?
@Bob: I opened an ALFM fund din with BPI Family last Sept. Gnun din sinabi nung kausap ko. They need to forward yung requirements mo sa main branch na nghahandle ng investments. Difference natin is lahat ng docs dun ko na mismo sa bank finill-out. Then once mainvest na siya, you can go back dun sa bank kung saan ka ng-pass ng request para dun sa receipt and everything. Tapos a few weeks after, you might receive yung parang proof of purchase. mukha lang siyang cheke. Nakastate dun ilang unit napurchase mo and ilan total units meron ka. Every time na bibili ka units may ipapadala saung gnun.
Sad lang talaga kasi majority ng teller ay hindi oriented about their investment products. Automatic nila ako nilagay sa conservative type. Yun kasi lumabas sa risk profile ko ^_^
@All: I have an ATM account with BPI Family. Yun ginamit ko pang open ng acct. DUn monthly ngdededuct ng pera yung bank. syempre according sa preference na niregister ko online. 5K lang opening nung time na nag-apply ako kaya hindi hassle. ^_^ Naregister siya last Sept 18. As of today, ngearn na yung 23 units ng 28.40 pesos.Ngflufluctuate yung price pero so far hindi pa naman bumaba dun sa purchasing price na sinubscribe ko. ^_^
I just opened an account with them today. The bank had very few people and the temperature was very cold. I immediately caught a cold and started to have an irritated runny nose. Ang dami ko pa sanang tanong pero minadali ko na lahat maka labas lang sa bangko. In short wala na nga akong alam, di pa ako nakapagtanong like paano ko ma momonitor yung funds etc. sabi pa nung nakausap ko, may mga pipirmahan pa daw ako kaya pinapabalik ako bukas pero Mag o-out of town kasi ako kaya sa monday ko pa malalaman kung ano na. bastat nag deposit lang ako nang amount sa account ko tapos may resibo tapos umali na ako. haha.. Alam niyo po ba kung anong flow after maka pag deposit. Salamat po.
I invested last week in BPI short term fund; around 15k. And I noticed that I’m earning 1 peso from mon-fri… Mmm not bad than a savings acc 🙂
Hello po…. ditto po ako Saudi Arabia magbakasyon ako sa pilipinas this coming May 2015, gusto ko mag invest BPI Global Equity Fund, magkano ang minimum at magkano ang interest sa pera ko buwan buwan…. Like mag deposit ako 200, 000.00 php
Hi po i started investing in stocks via COL last month, for aggressive investors po siya diba, tapos po yung savings ko gusto i-invest sa conservative types naman, ano po ang averagd yearly return ng short term fund. Ok lng po ba ung ganung diskarte?
Good AM i want to invest in BPI mutual fund and i need more information, i am from Leyte, Tacloban City thanks….
What do you guys think about this idea on how to live on the earnings of your funds.
Let us say that I have inherited 10 million pesos, so I put 9 millions in an aggressive equity fund with a reputable bank, and keep 1 million pesos in cash for my everyday life expenses.
So I am set up for early retirement.
My 1 million pesos every month gets to become lesser, no worry I will get more money by redeeming some already bloated shares or units from my fund.
The trouble is that with every redemption of shares or units from the fund, the shares or units get lesser in number; for example when I withdraw 50 shares or units, my fund is now reduced by 50 quantity; as this goes on and on I will sooner than later be left with a meager number of shares or units, and in the end will have redeemed all shares and units: no more money from the fund because all shares or units have been redeemed.
You understand now my predicament with early retirement where I do not get money except from the fund I set up?
What is your solution with just living on the fund, not going into other ways and means to make money outside of the fund?
[…] trust, investment or treasury department. They are sold by authorized bank employees. Check out the BPI Investment Funds and BDO UITF […]
[…] For example, let’s take a look at the description of the BPI Short Term Fund: […]
Pwede po ba 1000 lang po ang initial payment ko kapag nag apply ako ngayon sa bdo eip at bpi RSP, Hindi ko po kasi kaya 10,000 kagad. Thank you.
Ok po ba sa bdo mag invest.
[…] learned these from a BPI Investment Fund manager who taught me about life cycle investing. So, I hope you’ll find this information as […]
[…] can read through some examples from my past articles: Here are the investment funds of BPI and here are the UITF products of […]
Hi Emmie, May I know how much did you invest to earn the interest 14k? Thanks
@Ngan
If I were to guess, I believe that would be around P100k, which is very much possible for an equity fund for 6 months on a good market performance.
Hello, can I invest in BPI mutual fund even if I am an ofw, I have an acct at BPI but I was not able to activate my ATM and was not able to enroll it online.thanks
im newbie pls can someone guide me nag open ako ng bpi uitf at nakuha ko moderate aggressive pwde ba ako mag engage sa stock market?
[…] Philippine Stock Index Fund is a UITF product of BPI. Suze Orman was brought here by BPI, so expect her to recommend BPI products. If you want to invest […]
ano po ung trust fee ? per month po b yn o per yr.. pno po compute nyan? thanks
[…] trust, investment or treasury department. They are sold by authorized bank employees. Check out the BPI Investment Funds and BDO UITF […]
[…] example, the BPI Short Term Fund is a Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) that invests in short term government securities, money […]