I had the honor of hosting the first RFP Financial Fitness Forum earlier and it was such a good program that I learned and re-learned much from the best minds of the Registered Financial Planner Institute. Kudos to Henry Ong and the RFP team for enlightening over 300 participants of the forum.

Instead of doing a summary of the forum, I will re-post below all the posts I made through my twitter which highlights a lot of the learning I picked up. I used the hash tag #rfpfinancialfitness as well. Here goes!

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Efren Cruz cites dangers of all the euphoria in our investments environment, too much hot money vs. low foreign direct investments.

“Stocks cannot continue to defy gravity.” – Efren Cruz 

“Nobody is brilliant in a bull market.” – Efren Cruz

“Our stock prices are now overpriced.” – Efren Cruz

“Pag mas malaki ang discretionary income, mas better ang life.” – Efren Cruz

“Before investing your money, start financial planning first.”

Efren Cruz talks about his free personal finance app, now available at symbian and android and soon for iOs. Exciting!

“Giving a financial plan is serious business.” Efren Cruz

@pesosandsense Aya Laraya gives #rfpfinancialfitness participants an update of the investment markets.

“It will take years before we will feel the benefits of our economic growth & investment grade.” Aya Laraya

“Invest in businesses you understand.” Aya Laraya

“Before investing in a fund, you should read the prospectus.” Aya Laraya

“Long-term is a strategy, not an excuse to delay a bad decision.” Aya Laraya

“Price and earnings will ultimately meet.” – Aya Laraya

“Re BLOOM, after all the pr and hype, can they deliver?” Aya Laraya

“PLDT as a stock is still cheap.” Aya Laraya

Banking is good business, making them good stock picks.

Banking stocks are good because they benefit from strong inflows plus low interest rates as consumers may be encouraged to buy more.

The investment grade will most likely attract Foreign Direct Investments.

“If you want to enter the stock matket for short term gains, don’t.” Aya Laraya

“Aral muna bago invest.” Aya Laraya

“Only 1 out of 10 Filipinos enjoy their retirement.”

“Before investing, know your investment goals first.”

Some people spend a lot of time & energy trying to find the best investment; ignoring the more fundamental issues in finance.

We need to upgrade our financial education because we are now in a new world & a new world requires new solutions.

“People spend faster today.” – Noel Arandilla

“Everything is changing except our financial strategies.” Noel Arandilla

“We are expecting to see about 40,000 OFWs in Singapore to lose their jobs this year.” Noel Arandilla

“2 problems in life: We live too long or we die to soon.” – Noel Arandilla

“Poverty is not lack of time, it is mismanaged time. It is not lack of money, it is mismanaged money.” Noel Arandilla

“A credit card is not an emergency fund, it’s only for convenience.” – Salve Duplito

“The stock market earned 32% in 2012 & 24% in 5 months in 2013.” – Marvin Germo

“It’s never too late to invest.” – Marvin Germo

“My goals are more important than my investments.” – Marvin Germo

“Your wealth should also last in bear markets.” – Marvin Germo

“Stay in the market until you hit your goal.” – Marvin Germo

“When investing, stick to your own conviction.” – Marvin Germo

“Aanhin mo ang pera kung wala ka namang love life.” – Marvin Germo

“I always put a specific amount on regular intervals.” – Marvin Germo

“I pick stocks both for short term and long term.” – Marvin Germo

“If the stock is making money, price will always follow ultimately.” – Marvin Germo

“Don’t diversify too much, 4-7 stocks in any given time.” – Marvin Germo

“Where the money is flowing, follow it.” – Marvin Germo

“Pag umaakyat ang market dapat umaakyat din economy.” – Marvin Germo

“I’m bullish on bank stocks like BDO & EastWest Bank.” – Marvin Germo

“Will the stock market crash? My answer is no.” – Ricky So

“Why invest in the Philippines? Because it’s our country. When we invest here, our market will be less dependent on hot money.” – Marvin Germo

“Hope without analysis won’t get you anywhere.” – Marvin Germo

“The worst thing that you can do is buy something just because someone told you.” – Marvin Germo

“BSP sees a moderate & benign inflation of about 3 to 3.5% for the Philippines.” – Rienzie Biolena

“When you’re young you can invest in equities because if you lose money, you still have your parents.” Ricky So – funny guy!

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There were so much more learning but it was hard listening, taking down notes, tweeting, taking photos and hosting all at the same time so this will do for now. 

The next event you should not miss is iCon 2013: The No Nonsense Investments Conference on June 22 at the SMX! Click HERE.

It is a pleasure to present the outlook of an esteemed colleague and a veteran in the investments industry, Mr. Ricky So. Ricky has extensive experience in the arena of investments which dates back to over two decades. Today, Ricky is an advocate of investment education as he helps make many Filipinos a real investor.

The 2013 Outlook of Ricky So

The year of the snake bodes well for the financial markets as the book says people born in the year of the snake are fortunate with finances. This is the astrology part. I do not mind the source, for as long as it is positive, I tend to believe it.

For the Philippines economy and markets, 2013 will be a great year of milestones as we are likely to achieve the most coveted and once elusive investment grade status from leading global credit ratings companies.  (Never mind, their questionable past during the global crisis of 2008, this time they are doing well with us.)  This milestone will be a catalyst to more positive developments for the Philippines. Foreign direct investments will most likely pour in bigger investments than before perhaps rising more than 100% over the coming years.  Portfolio investment will likely follow suit with a bold outlook of about $10 bln for this year along.  This will pave the way for the equity markets to record new highs towards Q2 to Q3 rising another double digit gains as inflation continues to be tame with interest rates possibly lowers a few basis points more.  I predict the PSEi to reach record levels beyond 6500 but not 7000, somewhere in between.

The continued challenges in US and in Eurozone economies bode well for our BPO sector generating more dollars (my estimate is it growing 15%) and employment as well. I can see the unemployment rate moving another 1% lower from the present rate of about 7%.   Alongside, the perennial winner OFW remittances will provide additional inflow of 1 to 2 billion dollars from 2012’s estimate of $21 bln. The result of which is a stronger peso moving towards P38-39 per greenback towards the end of 2013.

Over-all the PHL economy will be well this year and perhaps over the coming years. It is time to invest in the Philippines and attract more foreign investments and rekindle the local investors both onshore and offshore.

Ricky So’s professional credentials:

• SEC Licensed Commodity Futures & FOREX Solicitor, 1987 to 1996

• SEC Certified Investment Solicitor (CIS), 1997 to present

• Investments Lecturer, Insurance Institute for the Asia and the Pacific (IIAP), 2004-2005

• Lecturer, Investment Company Representative Certification Seminar, 2000 to present

• Founder and Facilitator, PAMI Investment Clubs, 2003 to present

• Alternate Member, Fund Managers Association of the Philippines, 2007 to 2011

• Director, Association of Registered Financial Planners in the Phils., 2008 to 2009

• Registered Financial Planner (RFP®), 2008 to present

• Stock Market & Technical Analysis Lecturer, Global Investor’s Center Phils. Inc., 2009 to present

• Portfolio Management Lecturer, AIM-EXCELL Strategic Inv. Mgt. Program 2009 – present

• Training Faculty, RFP Philippines – July 2011 to present

• SEC Certified Securities Representative Eligible – March 2011

• Lecturer, Managing Equity Portfolio, Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM®), July 2012 to present