People ask me how I got my investment knowledge. Sometimes I ask myself that question, too. My best teacher has been experience, and this is due to the dearth of resources.

There are only a handful of local books—those of Francisco Colayco, Efren Cruz and Al Sembrano. For the stock market, you have the one by Irving Ackerman. Seminars have also become widespread. There’s RFP, Efren Cruz’s seminars, even online stock brokerages have their own.

I took advantage of the book-sale mania and went book-hunting. Even foreign books are limited. You have Kiyosaki occupying a good portion of the shelf. The rest are far and between. You have David Bach, Loral Langemeier and T. Harv Ecker, to name a few. Most other books are about investing in the stock market. You can read them, but you’d be hard-pressed trying to apply the principles in the local market.

Which is the cause and which is the effect? Is the lack of local retail investors causing a lack of local authors, or is it the other way around?

Resources may be limited, but I believe that we’re on the cusp of a new era. Investing has hit the mainstream. Pinoys are becoming aware that there’s more to their money than just 30-day time deposits. But information is still not enough, as victims of Francswiss can tell you.

On my own analysis, though, when it comes right down to it, was it really lack of information?

Sometimes there’s a fine line between speculation and risk-taking. To make a careful distinction, value and wealth is created in investing. In speculation, there is a winner and a loser. There’s no winner if there’s no loser.

To make the right investment decision, you need to have a trusted financial advisor. Not just a trusted advisor, but a trusted and knowledgeable financial advisor. The first persons we ask are the people around us—family and friends. They’re trustworthy, but most of the time, they’re as clueless as us.

Last year, many local UITF’s were hit by a massive drop in their NAVPS. The cause was clearly fundamental—a sudden increase in the US Fed rate. Yet, the effect was profoundly emotional. Investors were surprised that the value of their investment fell below their principal investment. So withdrawals were made, exacerbating the fall of the NAVPS.

We have since recovered from that part of investment history. That is certainly a good thing. This makes us more mature when it comes to investments. Investments, after all, aren’t about making a quick buck. This isn’t gambling.

To do my part, I joined an online group to share my knowledge. I’ve also joined the blog-wagon and put up my own. I don’t earn a cent from what I do, only the feeling of fulfillment when you know you’ve guided a person on the right track. It is in sharing that you impart and gain knowledge.  

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Sherwin Chan is a member of Sun Life and offers protection and investment needs. He is also a stock-market enthusiast. You may reach him at guerillainvesting@yahoo.com. Attend the Second RFP Forum (September 21 and 22, 2007). Visit www.fpexpo.com or inquire at info@rfp-philippines.com/Tel. No. 634-2204.

WHY don’t we discard the term “OFWs” and use “Filipino Expat” instead?

“Filipino expat” is a neutral term used by most countries in the world, and free from the harsh and bitter narratives that characterized the evolution of the descriptor for the hardworking overseas Filipino.

The visitor who enters the lobby of the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration (UP NCPAG) will notice a table with a lighted candle and a picture. It is a picture of a smiling young man. His hair is slipping over his face. One has to resist the temptation to touch that face with the radiant smile, and tenderly brush back his hair.

People ask me how I got my investment knowledge. Sometimes I ask myself that question, too. My best teacher has been experience, and this is due to the dearth of resources.

Coast-to-Coast: Doble vs Doble; WESM vs Napocor

Recent developments involving two of the hottest issues in town are turning out to be truly prejudicial to the interest not only of the truth but of the public welfare as well.

DURING an exhibit of the automotive industry last month as guest speaker, I predicted that the Philippines would be the third economic miracle of Asia, after China and India, in the 21st century. The domestic automotive industry alone should be worth P100 billion.

We have two eyes so we can see more dimensions. Or at least we should.

A decade ago, Cambridge University researchers made the startling assertion that stood history on its head. Based on the work of archaeobotanist Dr. Delwen Samuel, “who specializes in analyzing ancient forms of food and drink,” it was put forward that it was “alcohol that had convinced the ancients to stop wandering the fertile valleys of the Nile and the Euphrates, and settle down to grow grain.”