BPI Wealth is widening access to investments for ordinary Filipinos while preparing global retirement products that would allow investors to diversify overseas using pesos.
BPI Wealth President and CEO Tere Marcial said the company hopes to launch within the year global products under the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA), complementing its existing money market, government, corporate bond and equity offerings.
“This will really allow our PERA investors to diversify their investments to include global opportunities,” Marcial said at a media briefing on the National Wealth Wellness Month.
She added that the products would have peso classes to make them easier and more accessible.
BPI Wealth is also taking PERA beyond its traditional retail channels by working with corporate clients to offer retirement investing to employees.
Yvette Mari V. De Peralta, head of wealth clients at BPI Wealth, said experience with retirement programs such as the US 401(k) suggests that easier or automatic enrollment can drive participation.
“By making it easy for their employees, as simple as the enrollment, then we know that we can have a higher adoption,” De Peralta said.
The broader push comes as investment products become accessible at significantly lower amounts. De Peralta said investments that once required at least P100,000 can now be started with P1,000, with additional investments as low as P100. Through third-party platforms, some products can be accessed starting at P50.
For beginning investors, BPI Wealth Chief Investment Officer Luis Antonio Zialcita said building an emergency fund should come first before taking greater investment risks.
BPI Wealth also stressed diversification and investing according to financial goals rather than chasing the highest returns.
“The perfect portfolio for the client is not one that will always gain the highest return,” Zialcita said. “It is the portfolio that will allow them to stay invested.”
