(Second and concluding part)
JEDDAH, 26 June 2007 — When entrepreneur and financial adviser Francisco J. Colayco and his team from KsKSMP Co-op embarked on their journey to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, the number of Filipinos in the Kingdom who were members of the group was only 15.
But the team saw a huge potential.
“If we could tap just one percent of OFWs in Saudi Arabia, we could easily surpass our initial target capital,” said Armand Bengco, chief executive officer of the Kapatiran sa Kasaganaan Service & Multipurpose Cooperative, or KsKSMP Coop.
Many of those who attended the seminars in Jeddah, Riyadh, Qassim and in the Eastern Province have reportedly signed up, while others have expressed interest in joining soon.
Bengco said the co-op’s initial target is to raise a capital of P300 million. At the end of 2005, he said the co-op had accumulated a capital of P26 million. At the end of 2006, it’s capital rose to P34.13 million.
As earlier reported, the co-op founded in 2004 is currently made up mostly of Filipinos working in Hong Kong and families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Philippines.
Colayco and his team offered KsKSMP as a viable alternative for those who wish to to business or to invest during a series of “Financial Literary” seminars they conducted in key cities of the Kingdom from June 11 to 18.
Becoming a Member
Bengco said an OFW can become an associate member of the co-op by getting only one share plus a one-time P3,000 membership fee.
He said the current book value per share is P8,700 but the co-op’s Board of Directors has decided to offer it at a special rate of P7,000 to Saudi OFWs to attract membership.
Only those who own at least 10 shares, however, are categorized as regular members and entitled to vote during the coop’s general elections, while those owning nine shares and below are associate members who have no voting rights. But associate and regular members are both entitled to the same benefits, said Bengco.
To prevent individuals from controlling the co-op, ownership is limited up to exceed 20 percent of the entire shares.
Easy Terms
To make membership easier, the coop allows payment by installment, provided the shares applied for are paid within a one-year period. For instance, an OFW who wishes to acquire 10 shares at once — for a total of P70,000 plus the one-time P3,000 membership fee — in order to be considered a regular member could sign up and pay by installment.
Colayco said payments for membership fees and shares are to be made directly to the co-op’s main office in Manila, which is at Unit 805 Citystate Centre Condominium, 709 Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City 1803, Philippines.
“You only accomplish the application forms here and hand it over to our contact persons, but no payment shall be made here,” he said.
The contact persons in Riyadh are Napoleon de Guzman (056-7329454 and Joji Umali (050-2221065), both of the Calabarzon group, which was responsible together with the Philippines Embassy and POLO-OWWA for bringing Colayco and his team to Riyadh.
Those in the Central Region and Eastern Province may get in touch either with the Sampiga or Calabarzon groups to find out whom to submit their application forms.
In Jeddah, the contact person is Benigno Tadili (050-2527286), who organized the Jeddah leg of the team’s visit.
“It had long been my desire to get Dr. Colayco to talk before fellow OFWs because I attended one of his seminars in Manila sometime in 2004 and that changed my life. In the past, I always wondered where I was putting my earnings,” he said.
Tadili said that Colayco’s team managed to reach Jeddah through the sponsorship of Sky Freight Forwarders under its general manager Remigio De Guzman, Forever Living Products through its local sponsor Nayef Aqil Al-Zafere and Middle East managing director Eliser Salvador, Auto Express Service Center through its general manager Joey B. delos Santos, and Ay Sarap Restaurant.
Cautious
Seminar participants in Jeddah who were interviewed randomly by Arab News were one in saying that the lecture had a positive effect and made them more cautious yet confident about investing their money.
Darci La Guardia, a registrar at Sunrise International School of Jeddah, said she found “the promises to be promising.” She also said she was sold to the idea of cooperatives because “we have one at Sunrise.”
Amr Shoaib, an Egyptian who came with his Bulakeña wife Iman Joaquin during one of the seminars, said the KsKSMP concept was good.
“But as in everything we do, we need to check first because we don’t want to get burned,” he said.
Ric Lu, a civil engineer from Cotabato City and employed by the Saudi Bin Laden Group, found the coop’s objectives to be “practical and attractive.”
He said he likes the idea of owning a company through the co-op.
Luzviminda Licuanan said she not only found both Colayco’s advice and the business plans of the co-op to be sound.
“Marami akong natutunan. Hindi ako nagsising dumalo (I don’t regret attending the seminar. I’ve learned a lot,)” she said.
An employee of a big company in Jeddah said he was cautious because while Colayco was “popular for his books, he has sank a lot of businesses.”
In reply, an IT specialist working for a bank and one of the original 15 Saudi OFWs who joined the co-op said he did not find it difficult to invest in KsKSMP.
“What matters most is that Colayco’s failures makes him better as a financial manager because he learned his lessons. He himself talks about those failures as learning experiences,” said the bank employee.
Both OFWs preferred to remain anonymous due to the nature of their jobs.
Is It Safe to Invest?
Tadili said that he had been receiving plenty of inquiries and the most common question is whether it is safe to invest and how much would they get in return.
“What I tell them is what Dr. Colayco and other financial advisers are saying: If you do not want risks, go into government securities (bonds). If you want higher returns, go into equity investments,” he said.
He also noted Colayco’s advice against putting one’s investments into only one basket. “You can also opt for the balanced fund, which is a combination bond and stock investments,” he said.
According to ICAP, despite the risks, in the 80-year-history of finance in the Philippines, the biggest performer is still ownership investment: that is, stock market and development.
Tadili warned, however, that investing in mutual funds is not like going on a picnic, just as putting up one’s own business is a daunting task even for those who are financially literate.
“Unless you really know what you are doing, it’s better to entrust your money to a professional. I joined KsKSMP because I know it is being run by people who know their business. The co-op is a genuine alternative investment for OFWs,” he said.
“But this is not to rush anyone into becoming a member. We encourage you to check first. Ask questions and become financially literate first. That way, you can decide intelligently,” he added.
On questions about risks, Colayco said: the rule is that the higher the return, the higher the risk.
He said those who got swayed into joining schemes offering quick wealth — that is, pyramiding — faced far higher risks than investing in the stock market.
An antidote to that, he said, is to remember the maxim that “the quickest way to get rich quick is to get rich slowly” and to “avoid the jackpot mentality.”
Summarizing his message to OFWs, Colayco said: “If your decision is to eventually come home and invest, do it now so that your investments will grow. Invest regularly, seek professional advice, and get the right one.
“And finally, please trust our country; it’s the only one we have. Don’t think the Philippines will ever go down.”