The rupiah against the US dollar is currently drastically weakening. Unmitigated, the weakness reached a record low in two years. How is it that it does not affect our finances? Investment is one of the answers!
The rupiah has weakened to 1.6 percent during the month of February, and is now down to the level of Rp13,763 per dollar.
However, not only the rupiah is in a worrisome condition, other Asian currencies are weakening.
Last month, the Philippine peso currency declined to its weakest point since July 2006. The South Korean currency of the Won and Indian rupee currencies also slid to lows.
This weakening of rupiah can have a negative impact to your daily finances, because it can boost prices in the market. However, on the other hand, this could be your chance to start investing.
One of them is mutual fund investment, which has a lot of variety, and now more easily accessible. If the weakening of the rupiah is also followed by a decline in the capital market, then in fact it is the momentum to invest because the value of portfilo is also down.
However, you should first consult with the financial planner or asset management to get an explanation of the right momentum according to investment needs.
A mutual fund is a pool of funds managed by an investment manager to buy stocks, bonds or other financial instruments. Later the instrument is collected into one mutual fund product, which can be purchased by the community more affordable.
You should begin to determine the risk profile that is usually also in accordance with the ideal investment period until the withdrawal of funds later. There are conservatives that are suitable for short term (1-2 years), then moderate medium term (2-3 years), and aggressive tend to long term (3-5 years and above).
Conservative profile
For those of you who still lay, should choose a mutual fund based on conservative risk profile. Just then switch to moderate, and aggressive. For people who are still conservative, can choose money market funds. The reason is that the risk profile of the mutual fund is small, because it comes from a minimal risk instrument.
Money market funds investing his investors' funds into money market instruments. Included in money market instruments are deposits, commercial paper and bonds whose maturity period is less than 1 year.
However, you need to remember too, a low risk profile is proportional to the yield offered. The average return on money market funds in a year is still below 10 percent.
In terms of investment needs, money market mutual funds are suitable for people who want to provide emergency or short-term funds.
Moderate profile
For those of you who choose moderate risk profile, it is suitable to buy fixed income mutual fund products. As your illustration, the yield of a fixed income mutual fund within a year can penetrate 10 percent.
Fixed-income mutual funds, often referred to as bond funds, invest most of the investors' funds into debt instruments such as bonds or sukuk, either government or corporations.
At least 80 percent of investor funds will be invested in bonds that have maturities of more than 1 year, and the remainder are placed in money market instruments.
Fixed income mutual fund products are suitable for medium term, about 2-3 years. For example for the needs of marriage funds.
Aggressive profile
Meanwhile, for you who better understand and dare to take higher risks, then you should buy mixed mutual funds or equity funds. With high risk, equity funds are also able to provide looming returns.
Equity funds put most of the funds of investors into stock instruments. At least 80 percent of investor funds will be invested into stocks and the remainder placed in money or bond market instruments. Meanwhile, mixed mutual funds put investors' funds into stocks, bonds and money markets.
In the data of mutual fund products last year, mixed mutual funds could yield up to 30 percent in a year. Meanwhile, mutual fund shares are more aggressive again, reaching 40 percent a year.
Equity funds are perfect for those who have long-term investment plans, 3-5 years. The reason, for short-term investment, this product can even be dangerous, because the nature of stocks that fluctuate. In fact, if it weakens, it can be up to 80 percent a year.