Investments are an important step in attaining financial freedom. And while savings help you prepare for emergencies, your investments are what can push you up that ladder. Many financial institutions understand the importance of having an investment and that’s why savings apps like Piggyvest, Risevest, and Cowrywise have introduced investments within their mobile applications.
In this post, we’ll be walking through the Cowrywise investment option known as Mutual Funds. We’ll be discussing what it means, how it works on Cowrywise, and how you can start investing with mutual funds today.
What are Mutual Funds?
A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment that pools money from various investors like you to invest in instruments like stocks, bonds, real estate, treasury bills. These are usually diversified holdings that are sold in units. So to invest in a mutual fund, you have to buy it in units.
Subsequently, you then earn returns either in the form of interest or capital gains. Capital gain refers to selling your units at a higher price than you bought them. It simply means your investment is appreciating over a while. To invest in mutual funds, you’d need the help of an asset management company. In this case, Cowrywise is your AMC because it’ll make these investments on your behalf.
How Does it Work on Cowrywise?
There are two broad classes of mutual funds currently available on Cowrywise. This includes the Naira mutual funds and dollar mutual funds. While Naira mutual funds have a lot of options to choose from, Dollar funds are quite limited.
Naira mutual funds are divided into three categories; Conservative, Moderate, and Aggressive. These are all based on an investor’s risk appetite. Like the name implies, conservative means low-risk while investors in the aggressive stage are on the high-risk high-reward basis. Please note that Dollar mutual funds have only moderate investment options.
If you’re unsure about what your risk level is or what type of mutual fund to invest in, you can take a quick quiz on the app. Your results will then refer you to the type of funds to purchase. Also, you can always learn more about each fund by tapping on the ‘learn more about this fund’ link.
You can claim your investment anytime by selling your units of whatever fund you purchase. The money will then be credited to your ‘Stash’ (Cowrywise wallet), and then you can withdraw it into your bank account.
How to Fund Your Mutual Funds Wallet
To start investing with mutual funds on Cowrywise, follow these simple steps;
- Log in to your Cowrywise account
- Tap on Plans and tap on ‘Investments’ located at the top right of your screen
- Tap on ‘Start Investing’ and choose between the Naira or Dollar Fund
- Choose your desired fund from the listed options
- Select the amount you’d want to buy and tap on ‘INVEST NOW’
- Review your order and tap on ‘Choose Payment Method’
- You can either purchase using a debit card (if you’ve added one), a bank transfer, or from your stash (Cowrywise wallet).
- Once you select a payment method, you can review the entire transaction again, before clicking on ‘Pay XXXXX’
- For bank transfers, you’ll get the account information to make the transfer into.
- Once you’ve completed the payment, your plan will be automatically set up and credited.
A few other things to note: The actual units you get from each fund are determined within 1-2 working days. There’s an additional processing fee which is 1.5% of your investment amount
What are your thoughts on mutual funds? Did you find any plan you like so far? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.