The BDO Unibank Trust Group has reached a ₱1-trillion milestone in assets under management (AUM) on the basis of the excellent results of its Unit Investment Trust Fund (UITF) business. AUM is the overall market value of the securities that the financial institution holds on behalf of its clients.
BDO Trust Group achieves significant progress in the middle of the global crisis
Rafael G. Ayuste Jr., BDO Senior Vice President, and Trust Officer said that its UITF business had grown to about 35% by the end of September 2020 as customers flocked to the product due to its ready availability for both subscriptions and redemption, as well as ease of access across branches and online.
“We saw the UITF volumes increase substantially despite the pandemic. The clients see and appreciate the opportunities that the current market presents which will potentially result [in] significant growth in their investment returns as the market recovers,” he said.
BDO Trust offers a variety of peso-and dollar-denominated UITFs tailored to satisfy the diverse goals and risk appetites of investors in terms of increasing their portfolio earnings. For only ₱10,000, investors can now invest in any of BDO’s peso-denominated UITFs, such as the Peso Money Market, the Peso Bond, and the Equity Index Funds. For the bank’s dollar-denominated UITF, an investor would only need US$ 500 to start investing in the Dollar Money Market Fund, the Medium Term Dollar Bond Fund, or any of the Global Feeder Funds.
The bank also has an Easy Investment Plan (EIP) which does not require investors to spend a large amount on investment. For as low as ₱1,000 a month, they can steadily build up their wealth to meet their financial objectives. The EIP is a way for BDO to enable the Filipinos to cultivate a habit of saving in order to ensure the stability of their future or even to create an emergency fund. If this pandemic has shown us something, there is a need to be well prepared for emergencies. The EIP can also be used for the purpose of “cost-averaging” through a disciplined and regular approach to investing.
Investors can turn to BDO’s Invest Online Facility, its internationally recognized online portal, for convenient access to the bank’s UITF; enrollment in an automatic savings and investment scheme through EIP; management of EIP details; monitoring of UITF investment performance; and cashing in UITF investments booked through Invest Online.
Determined despite the crisis
Ayuste reported that the majority of its clients have transferred their assets to the relative stability and security of money market funds, considering the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the financial market.
¨This way they are able to generate positive albeit lower returns particularly during the height of the pandemic when there was so much uncertainty. We have likewise seen some long-term clients factoring in recovery and are taking the opportunity to buy more equities at current market prices which really presents great upside potential,” he noted.
Although with the prevalent health crisis, BDO continues to make aggressive efforts to increase its penetration of the client base, to sustain, if not to further increase its market share that is currently at 25%.
¨We continue to enhance our product and service delivery to ensure ease of access and simplification of client experience,” explained Ayuste.
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UITFs are ready-made investments that allow funds from different investors to be pooled with similar investment goals. These funds are managed by professional fund managers and are invested in numerous financial instruments, such as money market securities, bonds, and equities, which provide higher returns than conventional bank deposit products.
For more information on BDO Unibank, please visit www.bdo.com.ph today.
