WHEN it comes to financial literacy, few Filipinos place a premium on the value of savings. In a 2013 survey, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said only one out of four Filipino households has savings. Moreover, the BSP noted that 40 percent of households prefer to keep their excess money at home, rather than depositing them in banks.
The nationwide survey was conducted by the BSP from January 21 to February 13, 2013, covering 5,670 households and generated a response rate of 96.9 percent.
Fortunately, the option to save and invest has gone beyond putting your hard-earned money in a bank.
At present, there are lots of options, such as bonds, mutual funds, stocks, commodities. However, investing in such methods requires a skill to ensure the people will make the right decisions in their investments. In response to this need, a group of stock-market brokers opened the Caylum Trading Institute (CTI) in 2013 as a private, financial-educational institute that focuses on the stock market as the primary tool for financial success.
n partnership with stock market brokerage firm COL Financial, CTI brings over 30 years of authoritative experience in the industry.
“At least 20 percent of the population must invest in the stock market.
At present, less than 1 percent of the population is investing in the stock market,” said Edmund Lee, president of CTI, in a recent interview during its launch in Pasig City. At present, only 0.6 percent of the Philippine population is actively investing in the stock market.
Aside from lectures provided by experienced practitioners in the stock market, Lee said students can avail themselves of the resources available in a controlled environment where they can access all the information they need.
Conrado Bate Jr., president of COL, said CTI wants to raise the level of Fili[inos’ financial literacy through the right tools and education.
“As wealth increases, we need new ways to invest.”
“CTI will not only teach the fundamental techniques but also management skills. We want to make sure that we will not rely only on brokers but partners,” he said. Bate said CTI will educate individuals about stocks as a profession (short-term trading) and as a source of passive income (long-term investing).
Lee said the main challenge remains to develop awareness because Filipinos have never been taught a financial-literacy program when they were studying.
Aside from teaching the basics of stock-market trading, CTI will open a program for recruitment for people who want to work as market analysts in the stock market. The recruitment program will last for eight weeks.
“This program is for people whose bread and butter is actual trading,” he said. “We’ll teach, then hire you to be one of our analysts.”
Bate noted there will be a need for more analysts as the stock-market index continues to grow.
As long as the economy continues to grow, he said more investors will come into the country and find potential growth areas.
“Our long-term goals are to be the 1 preferred source for financial educators, especially in the stock market, continuously build a strong community through an alumni program and create a body of financial advisory advocates,” Lee said.
Caylum is currently the prime recruitment source for Citisecurities Inc., one of the leading brokerage firms in the Philippines comprised of an exclusive pool of certified stock traders who operate in multiple global financial markets.
CTI is a direct partner of COL Financial Group Inc., ranked as the top online stockbroker in the country.
The curriculum device is a structured integration of the following: basic stock-investing fundamentals; advanced technical analysis; market psychology and sentiment; market timing techniques; trading tools and strategies; risk management; and individual thesis and performance evaluation.
he course of study is divided into the Recruitment program (an eigth-week program) and Executive program (a four-day program). A maximum of 35 students each will be admitted to the two sessions.
The Executive course is a short lecture series that delivers a condensed overview on the basics of proper stock investing.
The classes are adapted for working professionals who are looking for a brief but concise seminar on fundamentals (long-term investing) and market timing (short-term trading). This program aims to provide enough constructive guidance for individuals to make wiser and well-informed decisions when investing in stocks as a source of semiactive and passive income.