Security Bank Corporation’s Trust and Asset Management Group (TAMG) is launching three new Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF) to encourage more Filipinos to invest and diversify their financial portfolios.

In a statement, the bank said that, through the new funds which will be available starting September 6, 2022, Filipinos with a moderately conservative and aggressive risk profile can access new financial growth opportunities with an investment time horizon from six months to at least three years.

“We’re excited to offer these new funds to our clients who would like to expand their investment horizon with new diverse ways to grow their hard-earned money,” said TAMG Chief Investment Officer Noel Reyes.

He added that, “We hope these new UITFS will encourage more Filipinos to access the financial markets not only locally but also the U.S. markets and invest.” To cater to the moderately conservative investor, the Bank is launching the SB Peso Cash Management Fund.

“Hearing our retail clients’ clamor to make investing in the UITF affordable, we have lowered the minimum investment amount to only P5,000, from P10,000, for our other Peso UITFs,” said TAMG Fund Manager Dino Aquino.

He noted that, “By investing in this fund, our clients, at just P5,000 can access high yielding Bank deposits and short-term government and BSP securities and with much less volatility as duration is shorter than most money market funds offered in the market.”

For the more aggressive investor, the Bank is also launching its new thematic funds, the SB US Technology Equity Index Feeder Fund and the SB ESG Aware Equity Index Feeder Fund.

The initial investment amount for the two new feeder funds is $1,000 and minimum top up is $500.00. Clients investing in these feeder funds are recommended to stay invested for at least three years to maximize returns typical of investing in equity fund.

For the SB US Technology Equity Index Feeder Fund, prospective clients can gain access to the feeder fund’s Target Fund, Invesco NASDAQ-100 ETF which comprise of the largest 100 innovative companies that are driving growth in the U.S.

These include companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla and Google (through the Alphabet company).

According to TAMG Fund Manager Basil Go, “The NASDAQ-100 Index is comprised of companies that are known for global growth and innovation. For the last 20 years, the NASDAQ-100 Index has appreciated 10-fold as compared to the 4-fold return for the S&P 500.”

Apart from the tech-centric feeder fund, the Bank is also launching the SB ESG Aware Equity Index Feeder Fund to give Filipino investors access to large and mid-cap ESG focused US companies.

Through its target fund, the iShares ESG Aware MCSI USA ETF, Filipinos will be able to integrate ESG into their portfolio whilst still achieving potential larger returns from the US equity market.

“The ESG fund employs an optimization process to maximize exposure to ESG factors while maintaining a target tracking error to the parent MSCI USA index within a specified range, targeting companies with high ESG ratings in different sectors,” said Go.

To date, Security Bank’s Trust and Asset Management Group offers a total of 10 funds that cover the whole range of funds, from money market fund, Peso and Dollar equity funds including PSEi index tracker fund and feeder funds that cover US, Global and Asia ex-Japan markets.