The Most Prominent Investment Platforms In The Philippines Today

The Most Prominent Investment Platforms In The Philippines Today

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It’s never too early to start investing. With so many terms to understand, graphs to decode, investment options to study, and historical context to glean from, it’s hard not to be intimidated – especially when your money is on the line.

Fortunately, investment opportunities nowadays are easily accessible through apps. While it doesn’t remove the need to do your homework, it does give you the opportunity to start right away and simply learn by doing. 

If you’ve been itching to get in on the action the good news is, here is a list of the most accessible investment apps and platforms available now in the Philippines.

BDO Securities

For your information

Investments offered: stocks

Minimum investment: None

Formerly known as BDO Nomura, BDO Securities is basically the brokerage arm of BDO where consumers (BDO account holders) can  buy and sell stocks by themselves. Opening a trading account is quite easy, but there is one prerequisite – you will need a BDO account under your name.

If you’re itching to get into the stock market but don’t know how, BDO securities is a perfect place to start. This BDO account exclusive trading platform bridges everyday consumers with the stock market minus all the complicated paperwork and brokers. 

What you can do here are the following:

  • Trading. Do it yourself using BDO securities’s online trading platform and mobile app, or seek the help of their experienced traders to execute your transactions.
  • Research Reports. Do your own homework from within the platform with the help of the tools that show you market insights and relevant metrics on companies that they cover. Their reports are prepared daily, weekly and monthly by their analysts and strategists.
  • Diversification of Investments. Aside from equities, they also have other funds and fixed income securities in local and foreign denominations that you can consider to build a strong and diversified portfolio.  
  • Wealth Management. Get in touch with a BDO Prime Relationship Manager and grow your wealth. Minimum investment is ₱5,000,000. 

Pros

Pros

  • Easy to use app that helps you trade in the stock market or get a wealth manager to manage your funds.

Cons

  • This platform is only limited to BDO account holders. 

First Metro Securities

For your information

Investments offered: stocks, mutual funds, ETFs

Minimum investment: ₱2,500

First Metro Securities is a brokerage house backed by Metrobank Group and First Metro Investment Corporation, thus their credibility and reliability in the investment space need no further introduction. 

This platform provides investors access to listed securities in the Philippine Stocks Exchange. Investors can choose to trade by themselves or seek assistance from their seasoned brokers. First Metro Securities is also an authorized participant of the FMETF (First Metro Philippine Equity Exchange Traded Fund), the first and only ETF in the country.

In a nutshell, here are the things you can do in First Metro Securities:

  • Online stock trading. Buy and sell stocks from the PSE by yourself. 
  • Funds mart.  Find, review, and subscribe to mutual funds from any of the several fund houses available on the platform.
  • Market research. Get access to investor insights published daily in the platform for a more informed investment decision. 

Pros

  • Access to stocks listed in the stock market. 
  • Learn how to trade in the PSE by yourself.
  • Seek professional assistance in case you want an expert to manage your portfolio instead. 

Cons

  • This platform is only limited to Metrobank account holders. 

COL Financial

For your information

Investments offered: stocks and mutual funds. 

Minimum investment: ₱5,000

COL Financial is an easy-to-use trading platform for investors to buy and sell shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). It also has a dedicated support service to help guide customers in their investment decisions, as well as a repository of articles consisting of expert opinions and comprehensive research.COL financial’s platform isn’t just an investment platform, but it’s also a financial education site rich in educational resources that transcends beyond stock investing. 

This platform was one of the first to exist in the Philippines, having been launched before smartphones and apps were a thing. Today, they now have an app to make trading a lot easier for investors. Aside from giving users the ability to buy and sell stocks from the PSE, it’s also very budget-friendly for those who are just starting out in the investment market.

Go through our comprehensive COL Financial guide to learn everything you need to know as you become more familiar with their online trading platform.

In a nutshell, COL financial lets you do the following:

  • Open a trading account regardless of your bank account. 
  • Learn more about stock trading and other formal investment vehicles comprehensively.
  • Do-it-yourself trading of stocks.

Pros

  • More comprehensive market research.
  • Access to COL Fund Source – a one-stop-shop for all kinds of mutual funds.
  • It’s now mobile-friendly because they already have an app. 
  • With the vast learning resources available in their platform, beginners will have a lot of materials to start with and learn from. 

Cons

  • Minimum investment of ₱ 25,000, although you can technically open an account for PH 5000 minimum for a starter account. This account has no access to live charts and streaming data, which can be helpful for beginners. This may be a big deal for some, but for more experienced traders, it isn’t necessarily a big hurdle. 
  • There are various means to fund your account, you’re not just limited to a single bank unlike BDO Securities and First Metro Sec. 

Bonds.PH

For your information

Investments offered: retail treasury bonds

Minimum investment: ₱5,000

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has now made it possible to Invest in government bonds through the Bonds.PH mobile app. This is a fully digital platform exclusively for Filipinos to give, buy and sell bonds easily from home using their smartphone. The goal is to enable Filipinos to participate in formal economic trade activities while boosting the economy.This is a more sophisticated investment vehicle offering a more secure ROI. 

In a nutshell…

Pros

  • Pays interest every quarter.
  • Higher interest rates than time deposit.
  • Low risk investment
  • Can invest for as low as ₱5,000
  • You can sell your investment anytime

Cons

  • Long-term investment. This may not align with your investment goal if you’re gunning for a short-term high reward vehicle.

Coins.ph

For your information

Investments offered: cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple)

Minimum investment: none

This platform initially started out as an e-wallet with a bitcoin wallet feature – it wasn’t primarily intended to be a cryptocurrency investment platform. While its main feature was to store Bitcoin, its e-wallet features such as bill payment, money transfer, mobile phone top-up, and etc was more prominently used by its user base instead of buying and selling Bitcoins.

Today, it’s a full-fledged cryptocurrency platform that can be used as a cryptocurrency wallet for 3 other altcoins aside from Bitcoin: Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Its Coins Pro platform is also underway to let its users trade these cryptocurrencies at a lower cost. 

 

Pros

  • Easily invest money in four prominent cryptocurrencies.
  • Easily top up and withdraw funds from the platform. Coins.ph can transfer the funds to your bank account on the same day or you can claim your funds through remittance centers.
  • It has e-wallet features which is very convenient to make payments and other financial transactions.

Cons

  • Cryptocurrency fee is quite steep, not recommended to do day trading within the platform.
  •  You’re only limited to four cryptocurrencies.

eToro

For your information

Investments offered: stocks, crypto, forex, commodities, ETFs, and index funds.

Minimum investment: $200 (₱10,000 more or less)

eToro is like a cross between social media and an investment platform, thus they brand their website as a “social trading platform”. Its most unique feature is the ‘CopyTrader‘ or CopyTrading feature, with which the investor can allocate funds to automatically copy the trades of other successful investors. Of course, you can take a peek at their portfolio to assess their performance before doing that. 

Another unique and very beneficial feature of eToro is the ‘Popular investors‘ program, which rewards users based on how many copiers they have in the form of monthly commission. Their platform incentivizes responsible trading because, in reality, it’s a high-risk high reward investment platform – you can easily earn money but also lose it in an instant if you don’t do your due diligence. 

Pros

  • No commission fees
  • You can trade 15 cryptocurrencies to date with no per-trade fees or commissions.
  • CopyTrading can make you earn without doing so much work if done right.
  • You can learn from other traders. 
  • Easy to use
  • Very accessible 

Cons

  • 15 cryptocurrencies may not be sufficient for serious crypto traders.
  • High sell fee – 5% charged when you sell cryptocurrencies.
  • High-risk investment vehicle.

Not all investment platforms are created equal, but the ones we’ve included in this list do make it painless to get your feet wet in the investment market. And just like every other investment, before you take the plunge, make sure you only invest the money you can afford to lose and have enough understanding of your chosen investment vehicle to make an educated investment decision. 

 

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