FIRST Metro Investments Corp., the investment banking unit of the Metrobank group, is putting up a new mutual fund company catering to investors with an appetite for foreign exchange assets.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said its board agreed to establish First Metro Save and Learn Global Currency Fund, a mutual fund company with a seed capital of P50 million.
FMIC will provide the initial capital for the new fund, which will be registered, managed, distributed and administered by First Metro Asset Management (FAMI).
FAMI is an investment company adviser licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to manage and distribute mutual funds. It is a stock corporation owned 70 percent by FMIC, 15 percent by the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines and 15 percent by the Marist (Marist Brothers) Development Foundation.
FAMI is the investment manager, administrator, and principal distributor of four mutual funds: Save and Learn Equity Fund; Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund; Save and Learn Balanced Fund and Save and Learn Money Market Fund. Assets under management totaled P848.4 million as of end-2008.
Mutual funds were created by financial wizards for people who have neither the time nor expertise to create and actively manage an investment portfolio. An investor who buys a share in the mutual fund gets the same percentage of return as one who gobbles up a bigger share and is widely expected to benefit from diversification and professional portfolio management.
For its part, FMIC performs three strategic functions, namely investment banking, treasury operations and investment advisory. The company’s principal products and services consist of underwriting, syndicated loans, project financing, government securities and commercial paper dealerships, financial advisory/consultancy, trading and investment advisory, and short and long-term loans.
FMIC posted a 164-percent year-on-year growth in nine-month net profit to P824.2 million on record income from investment banking as well as fixed income and equity trading. For every P1 worth of equity pumped in by investors, the company generated a respectable return of P0.14 for the period.
