A few days ago, I drove by a Petron outlet to gas up and noticed a poster advertising San Miguel Corporation (SMC)‘s public offering of its “Series 2” Preferred Shares. There’s nothing illegal about the advertisement. SMC is a primary stockholder of Petron Corp. and they can advertise anything in any of their Petron branches.
Ayala Land Homestarter Bond with ALI bonus credit
Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is offering a new type of bond that will give investors fixed income, plus a bonus credit if and when the investor decides to purchase an Ayala Land residential property.
The Ayala Land Homestarter Bond pays a 5% fixed interest rate per year — decent return from a relatively stable company — but make sure you understand all the terms and conditions of the investment, lest you eventually be convinced to buy a property that you never planned.
Invest in PAGIBIG Housing Bonds for only P5,000
The Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), commonly known as Pag-ibig, recently issued bonds that even small-time investors can buy and invest in. Last week, the Pag-ibig Fund announced that they are issuing to the public the new series of Bahay Bonds, a five-year mortgage-backed security aimed at raising P300-600 million that Pag-ibig can use to sustain its housing loan services to beneficiaries.
Pag-ibig Fund’s Bahay or Housing Bonds will pay a coupon rate of 4.80% per year. Each bonds costs only P5,000 making it easier for retail investors to participate in this bond offering.
Why the BSP restricts foreign funds in SDA investments
SDAs or Special Deposit Accounts are a favorite investment choice of relatively risk-averse people, Filipinos and foreigners alike, looking to park their money in safe, highly-liquid, but high interest-earning instruments.
Such benefits made special deposit accounts very attractive products, which paved the way for more than P1.658 trillion being parked in the central bank’s SDA facility as of June 15, 2012. How big is this amount? Well, this is almost the size of the Philippines’ 2012 budget of P1.816 trillion.
Such humongous amount of peso placements have both advantages and disadvantages.
FGEN’s 7.808% Preferred Shares
Here’s an investment option for those interested in diversifying their portfolio.
First Gen Corporation (FGEN), the Lopez-owned independent power producer, is issuing to the public up to 100 million Series G perpetual preferred shares for P100 each. The shares guarantee a fixed dividend rate of 7.808% per annum.
What are Preferred Shares?
Philippines suffering from shortage of coins
How many times have you been irked by cashiers saying they don’t have barya and “Para masuklian kita nang buo, Sir, penge na lang ng singkwenta sentimos”?
That scene is almost always annoying but, apparently, this only confirms that the Philippines is currently suffering from a shortage of coins.
Credit Ratings by S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings
What are Credit Ratings?
Credit Ratings are a measure of the credit worthiness of an organization such as a government or a public or private corporation. It is also an assessment of the quality of debt (loan) instruments issued by these institutions. In layman’s terms, a credit rating is a score that shows the capacity of the borrowing entity to meet its financial obligations to investors.
Who are the major credit rating agencies in the world?
There are several credit rating agencies but the three major players in the world, accounting for at least 90% of the market, are Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch Ratings. Moody’s and S&P are based in the United States while Fitch Ratings has two headquarters, one in London and another in New York. The “Big Three” issue short-term and long-term ratings of debt papers of governments and companies worldwide and also an outlook on the assessed entity, such as positive, negative or stable.
How are credit ratings useful?
What’s with the U.S. Debt Ceiling issue?
One of the most highly controversial topics in the United States right now is the Debt Ceiling issue. Basically, U.S. lawmakers are debating whether they should increase the country’s debt ceiling and, if yes, by how much. Much of their disagreement and discussion focus on the policy implications once the limit is raised.
Background of the Debt Ceiling Issue
Like any regular sovereign state, the United States relies on borrowings to finance its spending. In fact, the United States is the #1 borrower in the world, with total external debt amounting to $14.3 trillion as of May 2011.
That’s where the problem lies. The United States is limited by law to borrow a certain amount. This limit, or debt ceiling, is currently pegged at $14.3 trillion. However, according to the U.S. Treasury, this limit was reached in May 16, 2011 and the country only has enough money to spend until August 2, 2011 — a few days from today.