Personal Experience: Sun Life Prosperity Fund

A few weeks ago,  I decided to enroll my meager savings to a mutual fund at Sun Life. Although Sun Life is mainly an insurance company, they also provide other investment products including mutual fund which is aptly called Sun Life Prosperity Funds. With all the products that they have, why did I opt for a mutual fund? Don't get me wrong but I also like insurances. However, with the many insurance products today, I still haven't quite grasped all their terms and conditions. I find mutual funds simpler and easier to understand. 

A mutual fund is basically a collective investment scheme that is managed by a fund manager. The pool of money is invested in various investment vehicles. The money that you have invested in mutual funds are used in different investment vehicles including the stock market, treasury bills and so on. Mutual funds offer higher returns and unlike the usual bank deposits, the return can beat the current market inflation which is about 4% to 6%.

However, unlike bank deposits, mutual funds do not guarantee fixed interest rates and that it depends on the stability of the market in order to earn capital gains. Although this may be the case, it offers better rates that can beat market inflation if the market is stable. For this reason, this particular investment is great for people who understand the market.

When I got to their branch office (Ground Floor Regency Inn Building, Magsaysay Avenue, Davao City), I approached one of the cashiers and asked her if I could open an account. Unfortunately, all of their agents have left the building but they gladly phoned one to accommodate me. Honestly, I only had 5,000PhP in my pocket and I was really expecting that they’d see my investment was ludicrous. A disclaimer thought, I am not connected whatsoever with Sun Life and the reason why I wrote about one of their products is because the company has been around for a long time and has a good track record to boot. 

Investing in mutual funds is like buying shares of a particular company. The shares that you will buy have specific values that usually vary daily.  The value of your shares is called the Net Asset Value Per Share or NAVPS for short. The NAVPS is calculated at the end of the trading day thus it varies.  For instance, with the current NAVPS price at 3.20 and an initial investment of  5KPhP , my first subscription was at 1,562.5 shares.

Then came my agent. He is a man in his late forties or early fifties who explained to me what mutual fund is all about. I listened to him for full 30 minutes and he even gave me great insights about personal finance. I asked him if 5,000PhP would be enough and he said that it is actually the minimum initial deposit  to start a mutual fund account with Sun Life. 

Just like other kinds of investments, you have to take the risk assessment test to see what kind of investor you are. You see, similar with the UITF, mutual funds are divided into different products and the result of the risk assessment allows the agent to match a particular product that suits what kind of investor you are. In my case, I got the equity fund for aggressive long-term investors. 

What is great about investing in mutual funds at Sun Life is that you don’t need a lot of money to start investing.  Sun Life offers different products that will complement on the kind of investor that you are. In fact, my agent asked me to answer a questionnaire which determines your risk profile as an investor. This will let you know what kind of investor you are (low-risk, moderate or aggressive) and what kind of product is appropriate for you. In my case, I was qualified for the Equity Fund which is geared towards for investors who are seeking higher returns. Please see this link for more information.

And so I am setting aside some money and I will be letting it work for me 24/7  in this particular investment vehicle so that I can use it to fund for my child’s education in the future. I already have a separate time deposit earning 3.75% annually but I will also use that money to subscribe more units in the mutual fund. Here's a short video from Investopedia for additional reference. Hope you enjoy.