Learn all about stocks and bonds

About 10,000 retail investors are expected to attend a free virtual stock and bond conference on Nov. 21 to 22 organized by financial literacy advocacy group The Global Filipino Investors (TGFI).

The two-day event aims to educate retail investors, especially the newbies, about alternative opportunities to grow their hard-earned money.

Keynote speakers at the conference include global macro strategist Robert Lynch, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Kelvin Lee and Philippine Stock Exchange president Ramon Monzon.

Among the speakers are Shareholders Association of the Philippines and Ortigas Land president Jaime Ysmael, BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco, AP Securities vice president Jaycob Yedra, Pag-Ibig Fund senior vice president Amado Dizon III, First Metro Securities investment consultant Aaron Say, Social Security System chief actuary Edgar Cruz, Carret Private Ltd. partner Victor Choi, former institutional speaker Alex Timbol and Wealth Arki president Rienzie Biolena.

In a briefing last week, TGFI president and founder Floi Wycoco noted that about 20.2 percent of members of the TGFI community were already invested in stocks, while 22.7 percent had insurance coverage. Only 4.4 percent of members are invested in bonds.

The conference is also seen to share insights from investment experts in the light of the current global and domestic environment, including the lingering coronavirus pandemic and the change in leadership in the United States.

On the recent US presidential race, AP Securities’ Yedra said after 13 months of net foreign selling at the local stock market—the longest in recent history—a Joe Biden victory may translate to a resurgence of foreign inflows.

Whenever global funds flow from developed markets to emerging markets, Yedra said foreign funds would first pick up the largest capitalized companies. As such, he noted that the local stock market was now seeing strong demand for large cap stocks.