
Originally Posted by
makie
If NAVPS is down you could buy at a cheaper price and more shares. To clarify it further, let me give you an example.
For example you have P5000 pesos and the NAVPS is at P20 and at P10. At P20 per share, you can buy 250 shares with your P5000 while at P10 per share, you can buy 500 shares. Mutual funds is following the very popular line of "buy low, sell high" line in stock trading. Since we don't trade in mutual funds, let's just rephrase it to "buy low, redeem high", anyway, it's just the same, if you buy, cheaper is better.
Is it risky? Maybe yes, maybe no. If you get into mutual funds thinking short term, the risk is very high because of the unpredictability of the market. However, if you invest long term, the risk decreases because [1] the trend that mutual funds and the market is always going up linearly, and [2] never did it happen in history that the market never recovered. So if you invest for let's say 10, 15, or 20 years, you'll be in a lot better shape financially.
For a more realistic example, PhilEquity started at a little over P1 per share in 1995. Right now, PhilEquity's shares are at nearly P20 per share. That's nearly 2000% growth in 15 years time. In between those, PhilEquity had "bad" years. In 2008, they had about -40% return but in 2009 and 2010, when the market was recovering, they had a very significant increase.
Hence other than the price, time is also a consideration. The earlier you start to invest, the longer your investment will be, the lower the risks, and probably, the higher the growth. And the greatest part (my favorite part in mutual funds)? I do nothing yet my money grows.