Walip Yan's story: Four decades of Stocks Investing

Let me share with you the story of sir Walip Yan, a long-time stocks investor. He has already experienced three market crashes during his time! What did he learn during those years? Let's find out from Mr. Walip himself.

Walip Yan's remaining shares from the delisted Western Minolco Corporation

To All my fellow NEWBIE's:
In less than 48 hrs, umpisa na naman ang trading sa PSE. I'm sure excited na lahat, especially us Newbie's. Start of the year na and we are all hopeful na 2014 will be a better year than 2013 on our investments.

Yesterday i posted a query on what will happen to my investment in stocks, mutual fund, and UITF. The responds I got, which I agree are that:

1. You will lose your investment in stocks if the company went bankrupt. (that is, if you were not able to liquidate it before hand)
2. For mutual funds and UITF, even if the MF company or Bank closes, you can still recover your investment.

Let me tell you of my experience on Item 1. I lost my investment in a small mining company, a picture of which is attached at the end. Luckily, I was able to sell it, at a loss of course, before it was delisted. Ang naiwan as shown is the odd lot. I'll have it framed and will be part of my pamana sa anak ko, to remind him of the risk, and also the rewards, in investing in the stock market.

In my years of investing, three (3) times na nag crush ang stock market. In 1987, bumagsak ang US Dow, for what reason hindi ko na matandaan. In 1997, bagsak uli because of Thailand, sama uli tayo. And lastly 2007, yung subprime ang cause. But through all these crises, I remain invested. No choice, kasi naipit. Hehehe. In the 1997 crash, kinalimutan ko yung stockholdings ko sa ABCapital and only inquired about my holdings in 2008 because I needed funds for my son's college education. WOW, nagulat ako, the value of may investment increased 2.5 times. That's when I become interested in the stock market again.

Last March 2013, I converted my regular account from ABCapital to an online account and in July 2013, opened an account with COL funded it with my stock certificates I have on-hand.

Through this group and two others(The Trading Post and The Global Filipino Investors), I got interested in Mutual Funds and UITF. As the two are basically the same I preferred UITF as it doesn't charged a sales/front-end load.

So, what have I learned in my years of stock investing? Well, I will always be a NEWBIE. I cannot compete with the local and foreign fund managers who have all the resources, timely informations and the right contacts for them to make the appropriate decision on when to buy and/or sell a particular stock. But i will continue to maintain my online account kasi masarap pindotin yung BUY or SELL button.

What is my plan for 2014? Well, at end-2013 my portfolio is 97% stock and 3% UITF/FMETF. By end 2014, my target is 70% stock and 30% UITF/FMETF. Why 70/30? I just pick it from the air. To achieve the 70/30 mix I will sell part of my stockholdings and put it in UITF/ETF. At the moment, I have not considered MF because of the sales load/charge. "Allergic" ako sa sales load. Once alisin nila ito, kukuha na ako.

In addition to the UITF Equity Fund I have, there are three other UITF's I plan to invest in. The BPI Phil High Dividend Equity Fund launched in Aug2013, the BDO Sustainable Dividend Fund, and BDO Focused Equity Fund. Both BDO funds were launched in Oct2013. The reason I like these three(3) funds is because their price now is below their par value. Bago palang, so I'm hoping with SDM, not SAM, the investment will be profitable. Why SDM and not SAM? Kasi may nabasa ako, dito yata, mas effective daw ang SDM kaysa SAM. SDM pala stands for Samahan ng Dasal Method.

I want to make it clear that I am not recommending investing in these funds. I dont't have the stature to recommend anything of this sort. Dami ko palpak in my years of stock investing.

Happy New Year at sana maging Masagana ang 2014 sa ating lahat

_______________________________________
Disclaimer: This article was originally posted in a stocks market group page. With the author's permission, we have republished his story to help reach a wider audience and inspire more Filipinos to invest.

Other stories:

The Philippine Stocks Market 2013: A Year in Review

4 Life Lessons Nelson Mandela Taught Us That Can Be Applied To Investing

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