The year is almost over and this has been a whirlwind of a year for the Philippine Stock Markets. The start of the year saw a tremendous surge of the market pushing the Philippine Stock Index beyond the 7000 mark. Towards the middle of the year, massive correction and decline was seen as foreign funds took profits but our market seems to be more resilient than ever. Some recovery was seen pushing the market up again and refusing to enter a bearish market. Our market has yet to go back to the 7000 mark but many analysts are confident we will be back to those levels sooner than later, perhaps early next year?

For those who invested in equity pooled funds like mutual funds or Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF), it is good to know that there continues to be good returns although not as substantial as 2012. I have collated the 1 year returns of the top 8 equity funds, both mutual funds and UITFs. On the mutual funds side, the 2 index funds rose to be the top performers for the 1 year period lead by the Philippine Stock Index Fund and the Philequity PSE Index Fund. Customarily, managed funds outperforms the index, but that’s not the case for this 1 year period. On the other hand, some UITFs performed better than the index funds and 5 of those UITFs registered above 20% returns for 1 year led by Union Bank, Metro Bank and BDO and BPI. The UITF equity funds seems to be performing better than their mutual fund counterparts for the 1 year period.

Let me repost what I earlier said in an earlier post: “I need to caution readers, however, that returns are not the sole factor if selecting a fund. Aside from fees, it will be good to check on how volatile the funds are, experience of the fund manager and size of fund. Bigger funds are usually less volatile but may not have the best performance. Further, equity funds that are more diversified and having more variety in the fund is generally less risky.”

Mutual Funds are available through Mutual Funds Companies and are regulated by the SEC. UITFs are available through banks and are regulated by the BSP.