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Forex Trading in the Philippines: An Investment Growth Opportunity for Filipinos

Boiled down to its basic core, foreign exchange (forex) trading is simply the act of exchanging one type of currency for another. You’ve probably done it a few times for foreign currency you needed to trade in, so you’ve already experienced it in one way or another. What you most likely are unaware of is that forex trading goes beyond your local currency exchanger. Would you be surprised to know that the forex market is the largest market in the world, dwarfing even the biggest stock exchanges?
In spite of this, few Filipinos are aware of the forex market as an investment alternative.

An Issue of Awareness

Compared to other investment options, the market for currency trading in the Philippines is relatively new so overall awareness of the market is still relatively low. Compounding this is the fact that there are few brokers with a local presence, so many potential investors who wants to get into the market, go with international brokers.

While this is perfectly acceptable for investors who are willing to learn the market online, it can also be a deal breaker for people who are more comfortable with face to face education. We Filipinos can be a fickly bunch when it comes to where we put our money, and a purely online broker might not be a very viable solution for many investors.

An Issue of Trust

Take some time to search for forex broker reviews on the internet. You’ll probably find a few review sites, with a large majority of brokers having mixed reviews – both positive and negative. Given the anonymous nature of the internet, it’s difficult to discern which ones are legitimate and which ones are not.

For Filipinos who are especially careful with their money, this presents a leap of faith: invest in a company sight unseen, with the only interaction being online.

An Issue of Education

Perhaps the largest obstacle that forex trading faces is that there are only a small number of companies and institutions that actively educate local investors about the market. Until recently, the only way to learn about forex trading would be via online methods.

Fortunately, there has been a trend of local brokers and other financial institutions dedicating resources to educating the Filipino investor about the market. While this might not push forex trading into the limelight right away, it does create a base of initial adopters from which the industry will continue to grow.

An Issue of Growth

At this point, the local forex trading market is still experiencing growing pains. But it’s also on the upswing thanks to the efforts of the small group of financial institutions who are dedicating time and resources to growing the market.

Make no mistake; it will likely require even more effort to ensure that the current growth is sustained or even surpassed, but even the small steps taken today will serve as the foundations of the future.

About the Author:
Bwayan Jordison is a gamer, toy collector and a forex trader at Metisetrade Inc.. He often writes articles to help educate everyone about the foreign exchange market.

Photo Credit: Philip Brewer (Creative Commons)