Philippines Wins First Investment Grade (after so many years)

**xninjax** · May 2nd, 2013 06:08 PM

^vgood news as I went heavy on all my stock positions ::nom nom

**vinj** · May 2nd, 2013 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by xninjax

^vgood news as I went heavy on all my stock positions ::nom nom

Ingat lang sa ganyan... always keep a balanced portfolio between your high risk (high returns) and low risk (low return) investments. High risk money is always money that you can afford to lose.

**robot.sonic** · May 2nd, 2013 06:36 PM

wala atang reaction yung stock market sa announcement. factored na siguro o baka bukas pa magreact.

**Monseratto** · May 2nd, 2013 06:42 PM

It's the goverment ability to borrow money from outside that benefits them the most... Only time it will benefits us IF goverment lowers taxes...kailan ba nagbaba be ng taxes ang gobyerno? It still sucks to do business in the Philippines.

**robot.sonic** · May 2nd, 2013 06:57 PM

kasalanan ni PNoy yan.

**greenlyt** · May 3rd, 2013 10:21 AM

Originally Posted by robot.sonic

kasalanan ni PNoy yan.

sabi ko na nga ba eh si PNoy may kasalanan

**CVT** · May 4th, 2013 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by greenlyt

sabi ko na nga ba eh si PNoy may kasalanan

E sino pa nga ba?.... grin:

It's a big news internationally... The big question now is sustainability... Indonesia was in the same situation a couple of years ago....

19.0K:higop:

**basti08** · May 4th, 2013 01:04 AM

Originally Posted by uls

Fitch lang yan eh

Moody's and S&P are taken more seriously

S&P just rated us 'investment grade".

**uls** · May 4th, 2013 10:14 AM

i know

here's my post previous page

before the mainstream media reported it

Originally Posted by uls

S&P upgrades Philippines

**Monseratto** · May 4th, 2013 11:08 AM

Oligarchs-owned companies benefitting the investment upgrade...

iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (EPHE): Overview - iShares

iShares MSCI Philippines ETF

SM INVESTMENTS CORP
AYALA LAND INC
SM PRIME HOLDINGS INC
PHILIPPINE LONG DISTANCE TEL
BDO UNIBANK INC
AYALA CORPORATION
ABOITIZ EQUITY VENTURES INC
UNIVERSAL ROBINA CORP
BANK OF PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
INTL CONTAINER TERM SVCS INC

Philippines ETF Hits New High as S&P Joins Investment-Grade Party
By Benzinga, May 02, 2013, 12:29:21 PM EDT

Shares of the iShares MSCI Philippines Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: EPHE ) are soaring 2.2 percent Thursday, touched a new all-time high at $42.47 and all that is happening on volume that looks poised to easily eclipse the daily average.

The catalyst: Standard & Poor's raised the Philippines' credit rating from BB+ to BBB-. Now the Southeast Asian nation has garnered two investment-grade ratings from major ratings agencies in just five weeks.

In late March, EPHE got a lift after Fitch Ratings upgraded the Philippines' long-term, foreign currency-denominated debt to BBB- from BB and the long-term local currency-denominated debt to BBB from BBB with stable outlooks on both ratings.

Fitch cited the Philippines' strong sovereign external balance and persistent current account surplus. S&P likes the improving macroeconomic outlook for the Philippines.

"The upgrade on the Philippines reflects a strengthening external profile, moderating inflation, and the government's declining reliance on foreign currency debt," said S&P .

Just a few days ago, S&P boosted its 2013 GDP growth outlook for the Philippines to 6.5 percent from 5.9 percent. In April, Moody's Analytics, a unit of Moody's Investors Service, said it expects the Philippine economy to grow 6.5 percent to seven percent this year .

Last October, Moody's raised its rating on Philippine debt to Ba1, one level below investment grade territory.

Helped by the Philippines' status as the world's largest call-center destination and the fact that Filipinos, broadly speaking, are good English speakers, the country has been able to attract some higher-wage, high-skill jobs that are not all export-related. That has helped facilitate robust domestic demand while damping the country's exposure to export sensitivity.

While there has been chatter among some market participants that Japan's weak yen policy could lead to a lead to bubble in the equity markets of some top-performing Asian emerging markets such as the Philippines, EPHE's correlations to the two largest Japan ETFs are scant and S&P recently said the plunging yen could actually help the Philippines.

In another sign investors are warming to the Philippine investment thesis, EPHE had $205 in AUM in mid-December, but that number is now flirting with $468 million, according to iShares data .

Among bond ETFs with decent exposure to the Philippines, the iShares Emerging Markets High Yield Bond Fund (NYSE: EMHY ) is trading modestly higher today. EMHY's allocates 10.7 percent of its weight the Philippines, making the country's third-largest country weight behind Turkey and Venezuela. The $1.99 billion actively managed WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund (NYSE: ELD ) is also trading slightly higher Thursday. That ETF has a 3.7 percent weight to the Philippines.

Read more: Philippines ETF Hits New High as S&P Joins Investment-Grade Party