Many people have tried investing by themselves. They have relied on information from the newspapers, friends, relatives, internet, books, and to some extent, software programs. Once they have made a choice as to where to place their money, these people spend a great deal of time trying to keep track of their investments. However, not everyone has the luxury of time to sift through all these information and monitor their investments daily, especially those who are preoccupied with personal and business matters.

Learning the ropes in investing is quite tedious. It requires skill and expertise in formulating one's investment goals, selecting the right mixture of instruments, and choosing the type of securities to buy. Meeting your financial goals is largely influenced not only by the size of your planned investment but also by the frequency of additional investments, timing, choice of asset class and the length of time you plan to stay invested. In short, it takes a lot of time, a relatively high level of knowledge, sufficient exposure to the financial markets and technical expertise to be successful in making and carrying out a good investment plan.

If you don't have the time and patience to manage your assets, but still want to meet your financial goals, then an INVESTMENT MANAGER might just be the solution to your problem. An investment manager is a full-time professional tasked to manage your money according to your objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance.

Now, just what can an investment manager do for you?

• An investment manager has access to timely and valuable market information, and interprets how changes in financial and economic conditions can affect your investments.
  
  
• An investment manager makes investing convenient. He frees you from intricate paperwork, relieves you of the responsibility of monitoring your investments in stocks, bonds, and other instruments, and makes timely investment decisions for you.
  
  
• An investment manager comes up with a mixture of investments customized to meet your long-term financial goals. He prudently allocates and diversifies your investments to match your risk/return profile.
  
  

However, the services of an independent and full-time investment manager are expensive. Hence, in the Philippines, professional investment management services are often limited to large-scale investors and corporations.

An option that a neophyte or busy investor may consider is mutual funds, such as the Sun Life Prosperity Funds. In a mutual fund, your investment, along with the investment of others, are pooled together and invested in a diversified portfolio of securities to maximize the potential returns of your money.

For a minimum investment of Php 10,000, you already get to own a broad spectrum of investment instruments that would have otherwise been expensive to purchase and tedious to manage on your own. What's more, you obtain the services of a team of professional investment managers, most of whom are Chartered Financial Analysts, who will handle the day to day affairs of your investment. They have the research capabilities, skills, knowledge, and commitment to manage the assets of the funds and maximize the potential returns on your investment.