Stock News 2012: Manulife premiums up 60%

Insurance (Photo credit: Christopher S. Penn)

Manulife Philippines has reported a 60-percent growth in total premiums and deposits in the first nine months of 2012.

Total funds under management ballooned to a record P58.5 billion, while wealth sales increased 169 percent.

Total premium income reached P4.98 billion in 2011 based on data coming from the Insurance Commission (IC). That implies that premium income, including deposits, is around P7 billion end September this year.

The Asia Pacific Bond Fund (APBF) contributed significantly to the insurer’s AUMs despite having been launched in October 2011.

As of end-September 2012, APBF turned out a 7.06-percent return year-to-date – an impressive feat relative to similar funds. This is also much better than time deposit rates offered by most banks at currently below one percent.

APBF is available through Manulife Philippines’ dollar-denominated single pay (Affluence Max/Affluence Max Gold) and regular pay (Affluence Builder series) variable life products.

As of end-September 2012, total subscriptions amounted to $26 million for the fund.

According to Manulife Philippines president and chief executive officer Indren Naidoo, insurance sales in the third quarter were stimulated by the availability of new endowment and whole life products.

Endowment and whole life products are protection products that usually result in recurring business as payments are generally paid over a long period of time, in contrast to onetime or single pay premium products.

“The enhanced anticipated endowment are the Freedom series for the agency channel and MoneyMax series for the bancassurance channel, and whole life or the Seasons 100 for the agency channel and Legacy Protect 100 for the bancassurance channel products with financial protection coverage and guaranteed benefits,” Naidoo explained.

Total policies-in-force stood at nearly 400,000.

The Manulife Philippines chief executive said that the insurer expanded close to 4,000 agents primarily due to its rapid and aggressive branch office expansion throughout the country.

http://philstar.com/banking/2012/12/11/884484/manulife-premiums-60

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Stock News 2012: BPI holds record P700-B assets under management

BPI Direct Savings Bank logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has reached a record P700 billion in assets under management (AUMs) as of end January this year.

BPI Asset Management and Trust Group (BPI-AMTG), a BPI subsidiary, is the overall fund manager for BPI assets that includes managing mutual funds, unit investment trust funds (UITFs), the Odyssey funds, and other traditional trust products such as those in escrow, reserves of pre-need companies, corporate and institutional funds, pension and provident funds.

BPI Investment Management Inc. (BIMI) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPI, is the fund manager and principal distributor of the six ALFM mutual funds, as well as the Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund and Ekklesia Mutual Fund.

BPI serves as investment advisor to all mutual fund managed and distributed by BIMI.

The largest portfolio is the wealth management, accounting for roughly 40 percent of total followed by the institutional accounts taking approximately 24 percent. Then, traditional trust products accounting for 22 percent, and the Odyssey funds for 14 percent.

The Peso Fixed Income Funds group ballooned to about P67.3 billion in January 2012. It is a mixed of unit investment trust fund (UITF) and mutual funds and includes the BPI Short Term Fund, BPI Premium Fund and the BPI Institutional Fund, which combined amounts to over P13 billion.

The ALFM Peso Bond Fund remains the single largest mutual fund managed by the BPI fund managers. In fact, it is also the country’s largest mutual fund, and among the more popular investment instruments for individual investors.

Also part of the huge Peso Fixed Income Funds are the Odyssey Peso Cash Management Fund, the Odyssey Peso Income Fund, the Odyssey Bond Fund and the Odyssey Tax-Exempt Peso Fixed Income Fund.

The Odyssey funds as managed by fund managers that came from the acquisition by BPI of the ING asset management group. In fact, the Odyssey funds alone amount to P92.03 billion.

Meanwhile, the Global Fixed Income Funds amount to roughly P17.8 billion. Three of the largest funds are the ALFM Dollar Bond Fund (P7.5 billion), the Odyssey Philippine Dollar Bond (P4.2 billion), and the BPI Global Philippine Fund (P3.8 billion).

Peso Equity Funds grew to approximately P24.7 billion, and the Global Equity Fund grew in the vicinity of P4.5 billion.

BPI defines mutual funds as a collective investment scheme, which pool money from a large number of shareholders and invest in a portfolio-which may include money market, bond/fixed income or equity securities.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=790300&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Stock News 2011: Grepalife-managed mutual funds surpass P3-B sales in Q3

Image via WikipediaImage via WikipediaImage via Wikipedia
Grepalife Asset Management Corporation (GAMC), the mutual fund management arm of Yuchengco Group of Companies, has marked its presence in the mutual fund market by surpassing P3.2 billion gross sales mark as of the end of the third quarter of 2011. Based on data from the Philippine Investment Fund Association (PIFA) as of the period ended August 2011, GAMC-managed mutual funds likewise dominated total net sales (difference between gross sales and redemptions) among bond mutual funds invested in foreign currency securities by increasing net assets by P1.3 billion representing 106% share in total net sales growth for all funds in the same category. Industry data likewise revealed some competitor funds have experienced negative net sales in the same period.

Butch L. Lustado, Assistant General Manager of GAMC claims that the stable returns have allowed their company to grow their assets under management to over P4.6 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2011. “Our investors are by and large very satisfied with the way we handle their hard-earned funds and keep them informed about it,” says Lustado. GAMC has an on-demand account inquiry service for investors via SMS and the Internet.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/337019/grepalifemanaged-mutual-funds-surpass-p3b-sales-q3

Stock News 2011: ‘Using fake borrowers was GA practice’

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Two former Globe Asiatique (GA) employees have admitted to state prosecutors that the property developer had been using fake borrowers even before the Xevera projects in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

Venissa Panem and Francisco dela Cruz told a special Department of Justice (DoJ) panel that GA used “special buyers”—the term used by the firm to refer to fake borrowers—not only to obtain loans from the Home Development Mutual Fund or the Pag-IBIG Fund, but also from private banks.

The two admitted that they and other GA employees posed as “special buyers” so the company can get loans.

“At the behest of my superiors in Globe Asiatique, I was able to produce several hundreds of special buyers,” Dela Cruz said.

GA president Delfin Lee and other GA officials are currently facing charges of syndicated estafa (fraud) constituting economic sabotage before the DoJ for allegedly using spurious or fake borrowers to obtain housing loans amounting to over P6 billion from Pag-IBIG Fund.

http://business.inquirer.net/money/breakingnews/view/20110317-325928/Using-fake-borrowers-was-GA-practiceex-employees

Stock News 2011: Banks now offering 25-year housing loans

The Department of Finance (DoF) said Monday that some local banks are now willing to provide housing loans of up to 25 years after the government successfully sold longer-dated debts.

Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said, in an interview, that some local banks came to him and have showed interest in introducing housing loans that are payable in 25 years.

“Banks now are telling me that they’re looking at offering consumers 25-year housing loans. Before, loans outside Pag-IBIG [Home Development Mutual Fund] can only be 15 years,” Purisima said.

In December last year, the Aquino government issued debt notes maturing in 2035, in the process creating a new benchmark rate for 25-year bonds.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/299057/bank

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Stock News 2010: Globe Asiatique withdraws P3.4B IPO as BDO resigns as underwriter

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MANILA, Philippines -- Beleaguered housing developer Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. has withdrawn its P3.4-billion initial public offering (IPO) after its underwriter resigned on the heels of reports about the former's questionable loan transactions with state-run Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig Fund).

In a circular posted on Monday, the Philippine Stock Exchange said BDO Capital and Investment Corp. had advised Globe Asiatique about its resignation as the issue manager and lead underwriter for the proposed IPO.

"As the Exchange would no doubt appreciate, the resignation of BDO Capital will cause obvious insurmountable difficulties to our ability to launch a successful initial public offering, especially at this stage of the process," Globe Asiatique chief finance officer Dexter Lee said in a letter dated September 6 that posted by the PSE on the same day.

BDO Capital's resignation came in the midst of a controversy over nearly P7 billion in Pag-IBIG housing loans that Globe Asiatique had reportedly taken out on behalf of nearly 9,000 borrowers in Xevera Bacolor and Xevera Mabalacat, two of the firm's housing projects in Pampanga. Hundreds of the loan accounts allegedly turned out to be spurious with an undisclosed number of borrowers not even aware they had applied for and been granted Pag-IBIG loans.

But Globe Asiatique said it still believed "very strongly" in the soundness of its business plan and model.

"GA still believes that it does still offer an extremely attractive investment for the public and hopes to one day be able to realize its goal of launching a successful IPO on the Exchange," Lee said.

"As such, we are continuing to have discussions with potential private investors at this stage and we envisage reapplying to the Exchange for approval to launch another IPO at a later point in time," he said.

Pag-IBIG, for its part, is now preparing to file charges against Globe Asiatique for alleged fraudulent use of the agency's housing loans. Globe Asiatique, has denied all the allegations, claiming that the company has had an unblemished record with Pag-IBIG Fund.

At the House of Representatives, at least three resolutions have been filed, seeking an inquiry into the housing loan mess. These were filed sponsored by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II of Mandaluyong City, Pampanga Representative Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga Jr.

Doris Dumlao

September 6, 2010

http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20100906-290834/Globe-Asiatique-withdraws-P34B-IPO-as-BDO-resigns-as-underwriter

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International News 2010: The Next Bubble? Investors Flee Stocks in Droves In Favor of Bonds

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeIndividual investors are fed up with the stock market. Burnt by 10 years of negative returns, two crashes, and a current economy mired with high unemployment and lackluster growth, many are throwing in the towel.
Investors have pulled $33.12 billion from U.S. mutual funds this year through July, according to the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund industry trade group. With the exception of 2008 (height of the financial crisis), that’s on pace to be the worst year for stock funds since the 1980s, reports The New York Times.
What’s interesting is, this mass exodus comes at a time when stocks are holding up relatively well, as Aaron and Henry point out in this clip. The Dow Jones Industrial average has been volatile but is down less than 2% this year. Not exactly crash territory.
The next bubble?
Investors are fleeing the stock market in favor of bond funds. It’s happening at such a staggering rate, Bloomberg compares the flood of money into bonds to the stock market bubble surrounding the dot.com craze:
“Investors poured $480.2 billion into mutual funds that focus on debt in the two years ending June, compared with the $496.9 billion received by equity funds from 1999 to 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and the Washington-based Investment Company Institute.”
Contrarian investors view this exuberance for fixed-income funds as a potential signal of the beginning of a new bull market in stocks.  Plus, there could be another enemy lurking in the wings for bondholders, as Aaron and Henry discuss: If inflation takes hold, as many predict it will, bonds will get “hammered.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/the-next-bubble-investors-flee-stocks-in-droves-in-favor-of-bonds-yftt_535357.html;_ylt=AjsgIZYN4G4XlAwQJ50PU2Peba9_;_ylu=X3oDMTFnbmN1Ymc2BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNjb250ZXh0dWFsLXRlY2h0aWNrZXIEc2xrA3RoZW5leHRidWJibA--

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