Maya just recently launched Funds in their app where you can invest in several Mutual Funds / UITF similar to that of GCash GFunds.
How to Enroll in Maya Funds?
1. From the Maya Dashboard, tap on Funds.
2. If you haven’t done it before, you may be asked to do the following:
- Declare if you are a US Person
- Upgrade your account and verify your email address (if applicable)
- Answer the Suitability Assessment/Risk Profiling Questionnaire to receive your Risk Profile
Once completed, it may take you back to the main dashboard where you will need to tap on Funds again.
3. On the pop-up message, tap the Tutorial button.
3. You can go over the slides and tap Start Investing when you’re ready.
And that’s basically it. You will then see the list of all the Mutual Funds / UITF available for you to invest in. By default, it will show you the Recommended Products based on your risk profile. However, you can tap on Select All Products to show all available options.
How to invest in a Mutual Fund / UITF?
1. From the list of available Funds, tap on your preferred fund.
*Let’s use the ATRAM Global Technology Feeder Fund as an example.
2. The first thing you will see is the information about the fund:
- Description – brief info about the fund
- 1 Year Return Rate – The performance of the fund over the course of 52 weeks
- NAVPU – The value of 1 unit of the Fund
- Minimum Subscription – Initial purchase
- Minimum Top Up – How much is the minimum amount that you can invest for succeeding investments to the Fund
- Subscription Settlement Period – Time it takes before your purchase is fully reflected
You can also go to the Performance tab which will provide you with links to documents of the Fund.
Just tap Subscribe.
3. The next page is more of a brief reminder of what Fund you’re investing in. You’ll need to check the box to agree to the terms before you can proceed. It will then show you the documents you’re agreeing to.
4. Go over the details of each document until you get to the last page.
5. Tap Agree & Continue if you wish to proceed.
6. Once the box is checked, you can then tap on Proceed.
7. You can now put the amount you want to invest in the Fund, then tap Subscribe to complete it.
Note: you should have a balance on your main Maya account first.
Kuya Well’s Corner
I’m glad that Maya has released this feature in their app. This will surely make it easier for Filipinos to invest in Mutual Funds / UITF, giving additional options for investing. As it stands, most Filipinos are only aware of the Mutual Funds being presented by Insurance companies which usually have a heavy management fee and are combined with insurance. UITFs on the other hand are offered by banks. Who goes to physical banks nowadays?
Will I personally use Maya Fund?
Probably not. But only because I’m investing in the US Stock market. Most of these funds are actually feeder funds of US Mutual Funds that invest in US financial instruments (stocks, bonds, etc). So technically, I’m bypassing a lot of middlemen by investing directly in the US Stock market.
Also, I prefer ETFs (VOO, SCHD, QQQ) to Mutual Funds/UITFs since they offer a low expense ratio (or management fee).
Admittedly, I am currently investing in ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund (which is a Mutual Fund) via GCash. Reasons for doing so? I only learned about investing in the US Stock market a few months after investing in the fund and the fund provides dividends. If you haven’t realized it yet, I’m a dividend investor type of guy.