My Mutual Fund Investing Experience...so far

I started out my mutual fund investing sometime 2008.  And I admit I started out on the wrong foot. Why? Because I have no idea what mutual fund is all about.  As in zero knowledge. I'm not even keen of doing investment during that time (everything's different now though.. :)).

It so happen that a former boss invited me to a seminar regarding investments. That's the first time I've heard of mutual fund. I was expecting something about stocks and I was introduced to this. You can imagine how confused I am during that time.  Talking about financial ignorance :(. So I shelled out P5000.00, opened an account from the top mutual fund company, and bought shares at P10.7/share and I am now in the world of investments.

I've made foolish mistakes after that transaction and would rather forget everything about it :). There were lessons learned after that.

Fast forward, I am now again an active mutual fund investor. I decided to invest in Philequity as a personal choice, based on its track record. Initially, there was a little inconvenience when it comes to mutual fund transactions, everything is done manually. Filling out forms, going to the bank to deposit funds, scanning the deposit slip and investment form, etc. For a guy who has a regular day job, I don't enjoy such activities.

Fortunately, one of the top online stockbrokers in the Philippines, COL Financial Inc., introduced the COL Fund Source.

                        

                        

A COL Fund Source is like a fund supermarket where investors can simply select every financial instruments which suits their investment appetite.  And the best thing about this is, everything is done online.  Just what I'm wishing for. :) With just a simple click everyone can now have a mutual fund account.  But you have to open an online account at COL to enjoy these benefits. :)

One of the good thing about mutual fund investing is that in a volatile market, you are somehow protected from big losses because of diversification.  A mutual fund is the best way to do diversification on a minimal cost since the fund manager allocates the funds to different industry sector.  And your investment can buy shares up to the last centavo as compared to individual stocks which has a board lot. I'll have a separate sharing regarding my personal direct stocks investment on future posts. :)

So there, as of this time, despite of the recent consolidation or correction, my fund is still doing good. It's still in the green. Reason is I was able to purchase shares when it was still cheaper last April of May 2016. My personal strategy is to buy additional shares during market dips.

Hope you can get something positive out of this sharing.  If you have clarifications, please feel free to comment.

Thanks a lot for viewing and have a nice day. :) :) :)

My First Missed Opportunity in Mutual Funds

Back in 2008, I was introduced by my former boss into mutual funds.  That was the first time I've heard of such a thing.  Before that, he told me that he will share something about investment.  The first thing that came into my mind was the stock market.  I was surprised when he told me things about mutual funds.  My first question was, "What is that?"

I was introduced into something which was very new to me.  I was not prepared for that.  I don't even know about Philequity.  Which at that time, or even up to now, is the #1 Mutual Fund company in the Philippines.

So since I really wanted to try something new during that time, I opened up an account. I was told to open up an equity fund.  Whatever it is, I listened to him knowing fully well that as my former boss, he will never do such a foolish thing to me. I later learned that an equity fund invest 90% of the fund in equities and 10% in government securities. I will have a separate post regarding mutual funds and its different classification.

Moving on,  I shelled out P5,000.00 as the minimum initial investment.  If I remember it right, the NAVPS of the fund during that time was 10.7.  After opening the account, I never tried to up to my investment.  As the price went down to 7.5, I was discouraged.  I've seen my money went down from the initial fund value.  As it recovered back and reached P20/share, I decided to sell all my shares.  Somehow, I was able to double my money.  Doubling my 5,000.00 to up to 10,000.00 doesn't even made me excited to keep going.  Instead, I kept on living from paycheck to paycheck.  My financial situation is in total disarray.

Fast forward, after reading the Simplify book series of Bro. Bo Sanchez, that's when I realized that I am a fool.  I allowed an opportunity of a lifetime in the form of Philequity, to slip through my hands.  Now, the NAVPS of that same fund is 34.6.  The NAVPS trend makes me say tsk, tsk, tsk. :-(.  See the uptrend from 2008 to 2015? 

Reading inspirational books made me decide that I must shape up or else my future will be compromised.  I know it's somehow late in getting my hands wet in the world of investments, but I am sure that it is not too late.