It’s not safe to rely only on a single investment or income stream. If you’re an employee, you have to consider other sources of income aside from your regular, fixed and low-risk compensation income. If you’re a business person or an entrepreneur, you also have to think about having another investment aside from your usually variable and high-risk business income. So whether you’re an employee or a businessman, it’s wise to diversify your sources of income.
Investing in shares of stock or stock trading is riskier than expecting income from your employment, but it may be less risky than investing all your money for your own business startup. In other words, stock investing is good if you want to diversify your investment or if you want to have another investment that has a lower or higher risk depending on your current status. You can actually be an employee, an entrepreneur, and an investor at the same time if you can handle them all.
Now, a good start to invest in stocks and start learning the game of stock trading is to open an online trading account in the Philippines. Online stock trading is the process of buying and or selling stocks through the convenience of the Internet. And unlike the traditional stock trading where you are assisted by a broker through a telephone, you do it yourself.
Minimum initial investment
The steps and processes of opening an online trading account in the Philippines depend on the online stockbroker offering the service. Usually, online stockbrokers will require you a minimum amount of investment to open an account. The starting minimum investment ranges from P5,000 to P25,000. For example, COL Financial Group (COLFinancial.com) and Accord Capital Equities (Philstocks.ph) offer P5,000 minimum initial investment for a starter account.
Some online stockbrokers, like BPI Securities (BPITrade.com) and First Metro Securities (FirstMetroSec.com.ph), do not require minimum initial investment as long as you already have an existing BPI bank account (for BPI Trade) or MetroBank Direct account (for First Metro Securities). But of course, to start trading or buying stocks online, you must have a fund to finance your transactions.
Basic steps and documentary requirements
The common steps to apply for an online stock trading account is to go to the website of the online stockbroker of your choice, go to their signup page, fill up an application form, submit forms and requirements, and fund your account.
Usually, the following forms and requirements are submitted to the online stockbroker firm:
– Application form
– Photocopy of one or two valid government issued ID with clear photo and signature. Original ID may be required to be presented
– TIN (Tax Identification Number)
– Recent billing statement
– Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) or Work Permit from DOLE (for resident foreign citizens)
– Authenticated photocopy of one (1) valid passport (for nonresident foreign citizens)
Take note that other online stockbrokers may require less or more documents to be submitted.
How to fund your account
Online stockbrokers in the Philippines have different methods for funding the account of their clients. For stockbrokers that are subsidiaries of banks, like BPI (BPI Trade), Metrobank (First Metro Securities) and RCBC (RCBC Securities), funding can be done through those bank accounts. For example, you can fund your BPI Trade account from your BPI Bank Account, BPI Family Savings Bank Account or BPI Express Online account once your application is approved.
For other online stockbrokers, funding can be made through bank deposits to the bank account of the stockbroker, via online bills payment, through over-the-counter payment at the stockbroker’s office or branch or through other modes of payment as specified by the online stockbroker.
To learn more about the specific steps and requirements on how to open an online stock trading account for each of the online stockbroker that are registered in the Philippines, you may check this list of registered online stockbrokers in the Philippines. The list includes information about their address, contact numbers, minimum investment amount, and website. You can visit each of their website and head to the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section where important information can be found, such as the steps and requirements on how to open an account and how to fund it.
Victorino Q. Abrugar is a marketing strategist and business consultant from Tacloban City, Philippines. Vic has been in the online marketing industry for more than 7 years, practicing problogging, web development, content marketing, SEO, social media marketing, and consulting.
I’m a working mom, below minimum salary earner in a private school. I am interested to have at least an extra income which does not require lots of hours to work on. Hoping you could help me, Thank you.