A Millennial Guide to Starting Investments

Here’s a question for you: are you interested in investing but not sure where or how to start? Then you must be part of the group of millennials who are settling for letting their money sit just in their savings accounts.

While there’s nothing essentially wrong with doing so, investing really is the best way to go because not only does it keep your money safe from your sudden splurges, but it also grows your money over time. Think of inflation, where the value of today’s money won’t be the same as tomorrow. Investing helps you beat inflation by also growing your invested money steadily throughout the years, which is definitely much more beneficial to you than keeping your savings stored in a piggy bank in your closet.

But it’s true; investing on your own is admittedly difficult to do. Choosing where to invest and what to invest on takes a lot of research, and having to monitor your investments constantly takes a lot of time. What you might not know is that there’s a much simpler and stress-free way to go about investing that doesn’t eat up your time and doesn’t require full expertise.

Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs)

Unit Investment Trust Funds, or UITFs, are investments that allow different investors with the same investment objective to pool their funds together. These pooled funds are managed by professional fund managers who invest them in different investment instruments such as time deposits, government securities, bonds and stocks which they think can help that fund grow.

So instead of you directly choosing where to invest your money, you leave it up to fund managers from the bank to do it for you. It’s kind of like purchasing a garden and letting the expert gardener you hired choose which to plant that would help you reap the best benefits.

All you’ll have to do is first answer a survey form which assesses how much risk you’re willing to take when investing. Depending on the result, you will be advised by your fund manager on what type of UITF is best for you to fund.

There are three main risk profiles:

1. Conservative – these are the people who want to face as little risk as possible, invest their money only in the short-term, and be guaranteed with returns. These types will want to invest in a Money Market Fund, which invest in short-term securities that mature usually after a year or less, or a Peso Bond Fund, which invest in government and corporate bonds.
2. Balanced – these are the people who may have had prior experience investing and keep in mind both risks and returns when making investment decisions, but are more willing to take on the consequences. Those who are balanced investors will want to go for the Balanced Fund, which is a mixture of conservative securities and equities like stocks.
3. Aggressive – these are the people who are more interested in earning big in a short amount of time even if it also means absorbing great losses. Those who are aggressive investors should invest in the Equity Fund, which invest completely in stocks.

Investing in UITFs is such a great option for beginner investors. You don’t have to actively handle your funds. You have your fund managers do all the work so you can spend more time on your job, your hobbies, and your family. The best part is that you’re only required to keep your money invested for a minimum of 30 days. That means you can redeem your investment any time after those 30 days when you’re in need of cash or when you’ve become uncomfortable having your money tied to the fund, and with no hassle at all – just go to the bank and request for a withdrawal, and you’re good to go. Plus, at any given time when you desperately need to withdraw your money within the 30-day minimum holding period, you’re allowed to do so with an additional termination charge.

It doesn’t take much to start investing in UITFs; for as little as PHP 25,000, you can already start growing your money. Find out how by checking out RCBC’s Rizal UITFs for more information.