Is it Possible for OFWs to Invest in UITF?

Not available to OFWs since personal appearance is required, and the investor needs to fill-up and sign forms.

Investor needs to have an existing BPI account, which will be used as settlement account. It is where the payment for the UITF will be debited, and also where the proceeds of the UITF redemption will be credited.

An online account, using the existing BPI account, must be created too. To learn how to create an online account, click here.

To apply for a UITF account, login to your BPI online account then click "Investments" in the main menu, then "Apply Now", then select "Unit Investment Trust Funds".

A screen showing the application steps will be displayed. It will guide you in the UITF account application process.


As stated in the final step, print the application form once you're done specifying the needed information. You must send this to your BPI branch (through courier, e.g., DHL, FedEx) to proceed with the application (Note: Make sure that the amount to be invested is available in your bank account. If the available balance is not enough, deposit the needed amount first, which can be done through wire transfer). Before sending out the application form, I suggest that you try to contact the branch first to inform them that you'll be sending a UITF application form.

Once the UITF application has been processed, the UITF account will then be displayed in your online account. Succeeding UITF subscriptions can already be done online, no need to send forms to your BPI branch. (Note: If you can't find the equity UITFs in the list of available funds when subscribing online, update your Risk Profile Assessment such that you can be classified as aggressive. You need to "cheat" on some of your answers to achieve this.)

To know more about the UITFs being offered by BPI, click here.

Investors who don't have existing PNB account in the Philippines can proceed to an overseas PNB branch and apply for one. Inform the bank representative that you want to open a PNB account in the Philippines. The overseas PNB branch will help you send the necessary documents to your preferred PNB branch in the Philippines. Wire transfer can be used to fund the account. For the list of PNB overseas offices, clickhere.

Once your account has been created, you need to create a PNB Online Account, which you can use to subscribe to and redeem PNB UITFs.

To learn how to create an online account, subscribe to and redeem PNB UITFs, watch the following video.


 

Investors outside the Philippines can only subscribe to Security Bank UITF if they have an existing Security Bank UITF account. A Security Bank online account is also needed. Basically, they will only allow you to subscribe to additional units using the online banking facility (which can also be used to redeem the units).

To subscribe, after logging in to the online account, check the "Unit Investment Trust Funds" section. It will list your existing Security Bank UITFs.


Click the fund name. The Trust Account Overview screen will then be displayed. 


Under "Popular Actions", click the "Subscribe" link. In the subscription screen, select a value for the Trust Account Number, Settlement Account Number, and specify the amount to be invested. Once done, submit the subscription order.

It's nice to know that PNB allows an investor to create a bank account, and then subscribe to UITF, eventhough the investor is currently abroad. PNB UITFs have been doing a decent job so far, making them a good option for investment for OFWs. Let's have PNB Enhanced Phil-Index Reference Fund as example, from its inception date (September 8, 2010) up to April 10, 2015, it has already gained 93.94%.

On the other hand, I was disappointed to learn that many banks, despite having an online banking facility, still require personal appearance when subscribing to UITFs. But we can't do anything if that is their policy. Let's just hope that they'll relax their rules on UITF subscription soon, to give our hardworking OFWs a chance to place their salary in worthwhile investments.

The information stated above are based on what the bank representatives told me. If you were able to subscribe UITF (while outside the Philippines) from the banks that I marked as not accepting subscription without personal appearance, please leave a comment or send me a message so I can check with other branches. I'll update the information accordingly once I get the confirmation.