With the strenuous work of being an OFW, many would actually want to stay home where they could enjoy the company of their family but still provide to the financial needs of their children. Some OFWs come home and start a business here and some actually had been successful however, for some OFWs such as the like of Daisy, a Filipina housemaid in the UAE, putting a fraction of her salary in a unit investment trust fund of UITF is also a good way to save for the future. She puts $80 of her salary in this UITF through an auto-debit account she hold with BDO for a year that she opened during her one-month holiday last year.
Although, we could say that Daisy’s experience with investing in stocks has been a success, this is still a rare moment considering that the there has been a market downturn causing lost to some funds such as the 1.91% of the BDO Equity Fund in the last 8 months according from the data of Bloomberg.
Despite running this market for 5 years, the performance is still average with a 15% per year in comparison to average bond fund or time – deposit accounts.
Nevertheless, Daisy was still thankful even saying that she should have started investing a long time ago instead of just starting last year. For a mid- to low-income expats, the potential of having a big source of pooled capital remains an untapped because of fact that what they send home goes directly into buying goods.
Industry experts say that the growth of investors is mainly because of two things; the online banking and because of long-term profits. They also said that this may still gain greater heights as more than 100 mutual and trust funds are now trying out their luck in this market.
With the possibility of gaining huge profits, the investment market is now becoming a trend to most Filipino expats. Anna, a secretary in Dubai, wanted to invest some of her salary to a stock fund but had no idea how. A branch manager of a bank in Pampanga suggested her to consider investing in a couple of their bank’s UITF’s. The branch manager was quick to show her how investing is done and how to make and open an online account.
Anna wanted to start building her retirement fund and she is confident that her investment will grow overtime even if the short-term outlook is not that good. She said she tried to catch up with all the details concerning short and long term investments including the risks.
One of the main things that make this investing safe is the fact that the funds can be tracked on both iOS and Android apps. BPI has been promoting online banking and offers three apps while BDO, Metrobank, Unionbank, RCBC and Citibank’s Philippines all offer downloadable free apps where OFWs can look the progress of their investment.
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