NATIONAL COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT MUTUAL FUND OF THE PHILIPPINES, ADJUDGED ONE OF BEST BALANCED MUTUAL FUNDS IN 2011; WITH 1.99% YEAR-TO-DATE RETURN

Good news to buyers of shares of the National Cooperative Mutual Fund of the Philippines (NCMFP)!

NCMFP was cited as one of the top 3 balanced mutual funds in the country for 2011.  It is joined by Optima Balanced fund, Inc. and First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc..

This was reported in the column ("Personal Finance," BusinessMirror, Dec. 20, 2011), of Christopher Lim, a certified financial consultant among other things.

He said that Optima Balanced Fund, Inc. had a year-to-date return of 5.16%;  First Metro Save, with 3.25% year-to-date return; and trailed by NCMFP with 1.99% year-to-date return, as of December 7, 2011.

Lim defined  a mutual fund, as a type of financial instrument that pools the money of various investors  to purchase equities, bonds and other financial instruments.

A mutual fund is professionally managed by a fund manager.  Most of the time, mutual funds are categorized as equity fund; bond fund; and balanced fund, Lim wrote.

"A for a balanced mutual fund (like NCMFP), as the term implies, it is composed of a combination of stocks and bonds instruments.  To be precise, approximately about 50% stocks and 50% bonds, " he further informed.

Lim added that the returns on 2011 are "a bit unexciting and quite flat.  2010 was a totally different story, as most mutual funds have double digit-returns in the high 20s and 40s."

Moreover, he disclosed that his mutual fund picks for 2012 are:

Top 4 equity mutual funds -  Philequity PSE Indes Fund Inc.; First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund Inc.; Philequity Fund Inc.; and Philam Strategic Growth Fund.


Top 3 balanced mutual funds - GSIS Mutual Fund Inc.; Philam fund Inc.; and Sun Life Prosperity Balanced Fund Inc.


Top three bond mutual funds - Philequity Peso Bond Fund Inc.; Cocolife Fixed Income Fund Inc.; and First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund Inc.


So, happy investing in mutual funds, which is also an investment outlet for COOPERATIVES!  (END).