Investing

UITF Historical NAVpU Data – Making them Readily Accessible

| Finance, Investing | , ,

The Trust Officers Association of the Philippines (TOAP) maintains a comprehensive website at uitf.com.ph, which is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the performance and Net Asset Values per Unit (NAVpUs) of various Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs) managed by banks and financial institutions. The site provides up-to-date NAVpU data, usually available by the next banking day, alongside detailed profiles of each fund and their historical NAVpUs, albeit protected by a reCAPTCHA.

For analysts and investors like myself who require historical NAVpUs for deeper analysis, it would be ideal to have an API or a JSON format feed for seamless data retrieval. Unfortunately, TOAP has not yet provided such a feature, which adds a layer of complexity to data collection.

To address this gap, I have developed a PHP script that automates the downloading of these pages from various banks and financial institutions daily. The script then saves the data in JSON format on a server, making it readily accessible. Currently, I’ve focused on banks where I have UITF accounts (BPI, BDO, MBTC, RCBC, and SBC), but this can be expanded based on utility and demand. …

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Multiple Retirement Fund Managers

| Investing | , ,

It is not necessary that a company maintains more than one fund manager for its retirements fund. But nothing prohibits them from keeping more than one either.

Maintaining two fund managers for retirement funds can have both advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

  1. Diversification of expertise: Having two fund managers can provide diversification in terms of investment styles, strategies, and expertise. Each manager may bring unique skills and perspectives to the table, potentially leading to better risk management and overall performance.
  2. Risk management: By spreading your retirement funds across two different fund managers, you reduce the risk of being too heavily reliant on the decisions of a single manager. If one manager underperforms or makes poor investment choices, the impact on your portfolio may be less severe.

Disadvantages:

  1. Increased complexity: Managing retirement funds with two separate fund managers can add complexity to your investment strategy. It may require more time and effort to coordinate and monitor the performance of both managers effectively.
  2. Potential for conflicting strategies: Fund managers may have different investment philosophies or objectives that could potentially lead to conflicting strategies within your portfolio. This could result in inconsistencies in your overall investment approach and hinder your ability to achieve your retirement goals.
  3. Higher costs: Employing two fund managers may lead to higher management fees and expenses, ultimately reducing the returns on your investment. This additional cost could eat into your overall retirement savings over time.

Ultimately, the decision to maintain two fund managers for retirement funds should be based on your specific financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment preferences. It’s essential to carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages to determine if this approach aligns with your retirement planning objectives.

BDO PERA Annual Contribution Limit Increase

| Finance, Investing | , , ,

Following the directive of the BSP, I received an email today from BDO stating that the limit for my annual contribution to my PERA account with them has increased from P100,000 to P200,000.

This is timely — with the elevated inflation rates in the past year or so, we’d better have enough come retirement age. Plus, this is an opportunity to average down faster with our PERA account subscriptions being down in the past 3 years.

Rich Dad Poor Dad – from overrated to trash

| Entertainment, Finance, Investing | , , , , , , ,

After reading the book (or rather, listening to the audiobook) of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, I thought it was overrated. After listening to the If Books Could Kill podcast episode about it, I realized it was a total piece of trash.

From promoting illegal investment and business activities, to selling MLM or Ponzi scheme products, people should already stop quoting passages from this book. Forget about assets and liabilities, or shaping people’s mindset about it, other than those taught in accounting classes.

Listen to Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri as they break down the faults in this book:

Cryptocurrencies are not investment products

| Finance, Investing | , , , ,

Bitcoin isn’t really used much as a currency at all.

When people buy bitcoin, they rarely use it to buy goods and services. They’re really buying access to a Ponzi scheme.

Even before the fall of FTX, I share the same sentiment. Bitcoin could probably actually work as a form of currency. Problem is, people don’t use it as such. They don’t exchange their dollars for these coins to buy goods and services. Instead, they buy them in the hopes that some other people will hop on the bandwagon, and they cash-in on its price appreciation.

And scammers flock to this opportunity to take advantage of people who don’t really know how things like these work but gullible enough to fall for their traps.

How BDO deserves the trash

| Investing | , , , , ,

Can you imagine receiving a marketing email, and the only method to opt out of such emails you’ll have to call their hotline?

That’s how brainless BDO is to do such a stupid thing to its customers. No 1-click unsubscribe link, you must call their customer contact center, expect to get through for God knows how long, and expect the person at the other end of the line to sell you more of their stupid products!

That’s how BDO deserves the trash. Even more — report as SPAM! I’ll set up a filter so that all their emails go directly to spam folder.

No, BDO deserves to be reported as spam, so that Google knows they are a bank full of spam!

How to: enroll for a second Pag-ibig MP2 savings account

| Investing | , , , , , ,

So you already have an existing Modified Pag-IBIG 2 (MP2) savings account. Perhaps, you recently checked your Virtual Pag-IBIG account and noted your account has been credited with your 6.12% dividend for your 2020 contributions to your MP2 savings. Or, maybe, you’re still waiting for your first dividend.

But one MP2 account is not enough. When that account matures in five years from the time of your first contribution, you can’t wait for another five years to collect your next MP2 savings. You’ve read in the FAQ that you can indeed open and maintain multiple MP2 Savings Accounts:

According to Pag-IBIG’s FAQ, you are allowed to open and maintain multiple MP2 Savings Accounts.

Perhaps, you want to time your multiple MP2 accounts to mature one year after the other — for your liquidity, or maybe just to reward yourself every year.

But how? It’s not in the FAQ, or anywhere in the Pag-IBG website. Lucky you, I have done just that, and I’ll share to you what I did. …

How to: enroll for a second Pag-ibig MP2 savings accountRead More »

Philippine Banks and Their Technology

| Investing, Technology | , ,

Banks should be in the bleeding edge of technology. But in the Philippines, they might not be as advanced as we’d like them to be.

Take for example the experience I had while managing my account with BDO Online Banking. Every so often, their system requires password change.

Their password change page details the valid password that the system can accept. The third item says passwords must contain uppercase, lowercase, number and special characters. But then, special characters such as [!#$%^&';"] are not allowed.

My questions:

  • Why not allow the characters: [!#$%^&';"]?
  • Wouldn’t it have been more helpful if you enumerated the set of special characters I can choose from to use in my password instead?
  • I use a password manager. After copying my password from my password manager, why don’t you allow pasting into these fields from my clipboard?

My concerns may seem so trivial, but trivial things like these make or break a great online banking experience.

Instapay now available in Security Bank mobile app

| Investing, Technology | , , , , ,

We have our salaries paid through our Security Bank accounts. Since I keep funds in my accounts with other banks, I need to do fund transfers now and then. And Instapay for Security Bank would have really helped.

Today I discovered that Fund Transfer to Other banks via Instapay functionality is already added to the Security Bank mobile apps.

 

Security Bank transfer to other banks
Security Bank transfer to other banks via Instapay.

Apparently, this functionality is available only on Android and iOS apps, but not in the web using your favorite internet browser. Nevertheless, this is a welcome development, especially now that GCash disabled cash-in via bank cards starting July 6, 2020.

Currently, as the whole nation is still technically on lockdown, all fees for Instapay transfers for all banks, including Security Bank, are waived. When things go back to normal, this fee schedule indicates that fees range from ₱10 to ₱50 among the different Philippine banks. Security Bank in particular will charge ₱15 per transaction, which is I would say is not too steep. I would argue that would be a cost worth paying for the convenience of not waiting some 30 minutes should you need to visit a branch of your bank.

Update: Read: Security Bank InstaPay Temporarily Unavailable

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