COL Financial concludes first COL Investor Summit

COL FINANCIAL recently held its first COL Investor Summit targeting customers actively managing their portfolios. The event brought together local and global investment professionals who shared their insights on their respective fields of expertise.

Navigating today’s volatile market was one of the central themes of the event, with seasoned investment professionals discussing how investors should position their portfolios in light of the current market condition.

Keynote speaker Mark Matthews, head of Asia Research at leading Swiss private banking group Julius Baer, said that the global economy is doing well and will continue to get better, and that emerging markets are starting to outperform developed markets.

“Staying the course is important, especially once one has identified a strong market or a good company. The Philippine market will continue to grow despite local and global challenges, be it political, economic, or natural,” Mr. Matthews shared.

While agreeing that the volatility the market is experiencing today will continue to present a challenge, Augusto Cosio, Jr., president of First Metro Asset Management Inc. ( FAMI), said that when things look bad, it creates a great opportunity to invest and make money.

Phillip Hagedorn, chief investment officer of ATRAM, reiterated: “Nothing has changed. We’re still in a bull market.” He emphasized that their current strategy is to focus on companies with strong earnings as their values will emerge over time.

Veteran fund manager Wilson Sy of Philequity advised clients worried about the current market volatility that they should reduce their positions as there are still a lot of unknowns that need to be addressed before the market can stabilize.

COL Portfolio Management Expert Marvin Fausto also stressed the importance of asset allocation, or amount of money invested, in managing risks and returns. He urged investors to know what kind of investor they are and presented different model portfolios that investors can adopt to match their investment objectives and risk profile.