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Managed Funds: An Alternative to Stock Market Investments

Stock market investment is one of the great legitimate ways to earn money. However, there's always the concern of risks. Any good bank manager or financial adviser may advise against it in some cases--that's unless someone has extra money to spare or to get the expertise. It's very easy to understand the whole buy low and sell high. It's easy to think about viewing the history of the company that one's buying stocks from. However, not everyone can have the technical expertise or the time to handle stock market. The stock market carries big returns but also big risks. True, the risk is manageable but are you willing to put too much into stocks?

Just thinking about the higher risk of the stock market made me think of taking lesser-risk programs. I've been depositing money in Metrobank from 2007 up to the present. I opened a savings account, later opened a time deposit account, then later decided to try the Retail Treasury Bond (RTB) and the Long Term Negotiable Certificate of Deposit. The RTB is where government securities are made available to retail investors. LTNCD is used for safe but good returns with the flexibility of a negotiable instrument. I bought basic life insurance from AXA Philippines. Later, I decided to go with health insurance (25 years to pay) along with Asset Master and Axelerator (Chinese Tycoon). Some people feel insurance is "useless" such as if you might be feeling like a miser. However, insurance can be more useful in the long run if you get it from a legitimate company.

I found stocks too risky not especially when I heard about careless players. I remembered I heard of people who borrowed millions to invest in stocks and lose them. It's all about a careless game. If one's too afraid of the risk--I think talking Axelerator can be a good package. I decided to go for Chinese Tycoon which invests mainly in stocks by Filipino-Chinese businessmen. It would mean paying PHP 3,000.00 per month to be managed by AXA's financial managers. It's a medium-risk investment since I feel like I don't have the technical expertise to enter into stocks. Besides, I've put more of my money into bank funds like the RTB and LTNCD for starters. 

Stock markets are legitimate but it's better to think twice before doing it yourself. Sometimes, it's better to have extra money or funds exclusively for stock market investments before investing in them. I, for one, still believe that you should set aside excess money before doing stocks yourself or get help from a financial manager if need be. Managed funds can be a good way to start when one tries to do a self-study in stock market investment. Then again, frequently monitoring the stock market can be a chore and not everyone has the time. So, this would be the lesser-risk alternative if one decides to go after a managed fund to reduce the risk. 

Resources 

"Chinese Tycoon Fund"

"Mutual Funds vs. Stocks: Risks and Returns of Each" Written by Kimberly Amadeo, Reviewed by Charles Potters

"Retail Treasury Bonds #25"
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