The winning investments of 2015

Rienzie P. Biolena, RFP

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The winning investments of 2015
It is best to diversify among asset classes so whichever way the market goes, you emerge as the winner

MANILA, Philippines – The year 2015 saw mixed reactions in investments.

Generally, the first trimester saw optimism for the year, with the stock market seeing historic highs to as much as 8,100 levels, and the bond market also following suit.

But this did not take long: the grim realities that the world is facing reared its head, and market got spooked, erasing the gains of the year, with some even diving toward levels below its historic one-year lows. (READ: A rough 2015 for PH stocks)

Chief of this are concerns on China: its currency devaluation as well as its economic slowdown – underlying symptoms of an even larger problem with that of a global economic slowdown.

Add to that the renewed concerns on the US Federal Reserve’s tapering, and the continuing Eurozone and Japan’s economic concerns. It would seem that the whole world is entering into another jittery phase and with that, more volatilities.

With volatilities, however, come opportunities. And for the investors that are in it for the long-run, such market presents opportunities to buy at a “discount.”

Generally, direct stock market investments provided the greatest return for 2015; in the Mutual Fund and Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) space, however, stock funds took a beating, with conservative bond funds emerging as top performers.

Stocks

As of December 23, 2015, the top blue chip stock performers are the following:*

1 SM Prime Holdings, Inc. 31.46%
2 GT Capital Holdings, Inc. 30.33%
3 LT Group, Inc. 23.56%
4 Manila Electric Company 21.88%
5 Metro Pacific Investments Corporation 13.91%
6 JG Summit Holdings, Inc. 11.36%
7 Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. 9.87%
8 Globe Telecom, Inc. 9.83%
9 Ayala Corporation 9.37%
10 SM Investments Corporation 6.13%

A good number are holding firms, whose business is diversified among real estate, banking, and retail, while some are concentrated in one line of business like real estate, utilities, and telecommunications.

UITFs

For the bank-side, conservative bond funds have dominated returns year-to-date. This is because almost all equity funds suffered a beating when the stock market significantly took a downward trend beginning April and got worse on China’s devaluation of the yuan.

Top performers for Philippine peso-denominated funds are as follows:**

Banks

UITFs

Year-to-date return (as of December 23, 2015)

UnionBank

UnionBank long-term fixed income portfolio

3.3781%

BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO)

BDO Peso Fixed Income Fund

2.9032%

BDO

BDO Peso Bond Fund

2.3866%

Asia United Bank

Peso Investment Trust Fund

1.7580%

UnionBank

UnionBank medium-term fixed income portfolio

1.7204%

UnionBank

UnionBank Philippine Peso Fixed Income Portfolio

1.7029%

UnionBank

UnionBank Infinity Prime Fund

1.5139%

China Banking Corporation

CBC Intermediate Fixed-Income Fund

1.4985%

BDO

BDO Merit Fund Medium Term Portfolio

1.4188%

UnionBank

Union Bank Tax Exempt Portfolio

1.3569%

Dollar-denominated funds are also dominated by bond funds, whose conservative stance stood up against the huge downswing of the stock market.

Bank

UITFs

Year-to-date return (as of December 23, 2015)

China Banking Corporation

CBC Dollar Fund

4.8350%

Asia United Bank

Gold Dollar Fund

4.5962%

UnionBank

UnionBank Dollar Bond Portfolio

3.4580%

Philippine National Bank

AUP Dollar Fund

3.3365%

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)

Philippine Dollar Bond Index Fund

3.3169%

BPI

Odyssey Philippine Dollar Bond Fund

2.6243%

Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank)

Metro$ Max-5 Bond Fund

2.1756%

BPI

BPI Global Equity Fund of Funds

2.0099%

BDO

BDO Medium Term Dollar Bond Fund

1.9335%

EastWest Bank

EastWest Dollar Intermediate Term Bond Fund

1.7378%


Mutual funds

The same trend is seen among mutual funds: bond funds emerged as winners year-to-date, with stock funds taking a back seat:***

Fund

Year-to-date return (as of December 21, 2015)

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc.

4.90%

Sunlife Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc.

1.24%

ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc.

1.14%

ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc.

1.12%

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund, Inc.

0.62%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund, Inc.

0.61%

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc.

0.36%

Dollar-denominated mutual funds are also dominated by conservative bond funds on a year-to-date basis:

Fund

Year-to-date return (as of December 21, 2015)

ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc.

2.90% (as of 12/18/15)

ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc.

2.41%

Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder

2.25%

Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc.

1.75%

Philequity Dollar Income Fund, Inc.

1.53%

Sunlife Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc.

0.83%

Grepalife Dollar Bond Fund Corp.

0.66%

Overall, when investing, it is best to diversify among asset classes so that whichever way the market goes, you emerge as the winner.

Also, review your investments. Ask questions like: “What made good returns? What did not? What were the successes? What are the failures?”

It is also important to talk with a professional that will guide you which investment is most suited for your goals.

The market and the economy are always changing, our investments, too, should adapt.

Some assumptions might have materialized, while some may not; some events that have been forecasted may have happened, while some events might have surprised.

And what emerged as the best performing investments of last year should not indicate that one investment is better than the other. – Rappler.com

Got a question about personal finance? Tweet @rapplerdotcom or email us at business@rappler.com.

*From Bloomberg

**From Philippine Investment Funds Association

***From Unit Investment Trust Fund

 Rienzie P. Biolena is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines, a professional group of financial planners in the country. To learn more about RFP, you may email info@rfp.ph.

Rienzie is also an accredited investment fiduciary of Pennsylvania-based fi360 and an international member of the Financial Planning Association, the largest association of financial planners in the US. You may reach Rienzie at rienzie.biolena@gmail.com, his Facebook account or Twitter @rbiolena.

 

Investment, stocks, UITF, mutual fund images from Shutterstock

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