If you’re one of those who are curious about GCash’ GInvest, you may have come across the ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund since this is the only mutual fund in the list that offers dividends. And I’m sure you’ve tried your damndest to know more about it but can’t find additional information from GCash or anywhere else.
So I’ll try my best to break it down for you.
What is the ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund?
This is a feeder fund created by BPI Investment Management. As a “feeder fund”, what it does is invest in BlackRock’s BGF Global Multi-Asset Income Fund (D6). So instead of Filipinos investing directly in BlackRock’s mutual fund, ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund acts as the “middle man”.
Investment Objective: Stability and Growth
Stable Stream of Dividends: If you’re looking for a consistent source of income from your investments, this fund aims to deliver just that. So for dividend lovers out there, this is worth looking into. Note that dividends are distributed on a monthly basis.
Long-Term Capital Growth: The fund doesn’t just focus on dividends; it also aims to nurture your initial investment over the long haul. The difference between investing in this fund compared to putting your money in MP2 or WISP Plus is the potential capital growth. With WISP Plus or MP2, your capital doesn’t grow. If you put in 100K within 5 years, that’s the exact amount you’ll get PLUS dividends of course. But with this fund, you get dividends on a monthly basis PLUS the value of your capital may increase over time similar to stocks.
Since it’s just a feeder fund, why not invest directly in the underlying asset/fund?
Because it’s not that easy to do. The minimum initial investment for this particular BlackRock mutual fund is $ 100,000 while if you invest in ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund, the minimum initial investment is just 1000 pesos.
How do you invest in ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund?
As mentioned earlier, this is managed by BPI so if you go to the ALFM Mutual Funds website and click the Start Investing button, it will take you to the BPI Managed Funds website.
That said, there are sub-distributors like COL Financial, BDO Securities, First Metro Securities, Investa and others. So you can invest in this fund using those other distributors.
For me, the easiest way to invest in this fund is through GCash. In addition to the ease of access with the app, the minimum buy order is just 50 pesos (though you need a maintaining balance of 500 at least).
Kuya Well’s Corner
ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund is the only mutual fund that I have in my portfolio. I started investing in this fund in December of 2021 which was before I started exploring the US stock market. And I use GCash’s GInvest to invest in this fund.
When I started, the minimum buy order was 1000 pesos but I noticed recently that it’s down to just 50 pesos (via GCash). And because of that, mas madali nang mag-hulog at mas madali ding ireinvest yung dividends na makukuha mo every month.
I’ll have a separate discussion on how to invest in this fund via GCash.