Misleading Philippine Star title: PNB insures UITF

Today’s article in the Philippine Star about Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF) is not only misleading but, more importantly, disappointing.

The article carried the title “PNB insures UITF.” Judging from the title, you’d expect to read that the Philippine National Bank (PNB) has agreed to insure the UITF products they offer.

But did they really?

According to the article,

The Philippine National Bank (PNB) and the PNB General Insurers Co. Inc. (PNBGen) have entered into an agreement to provide insurance benefits to participants of PNB DREAM Builder unit investment trust fund (UITF).

Under the partnership, PNBGen will cover participants of the DREAM Builder UITF with accidental death, dismemberment, and total permanent disablement insurance.

So PNB is actually insuring investors, not the UITF investment. This is obviously disappointing to investors who thought PNB will act like the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation or PDIC as regards bank deposits. At a time when rural banks are declaring bank holidays and UITF and mutual fund investments are fast losing value, an institution to insure people’s investments is definitely much welcome.

It’s also disappointing that the news author and editors of the Philippine Star did not even bother to check if the title accurately summarizes the content of the article. The addition of the word “investors” after “PNB insures UITF” would have solved the problem.

As of this writing, the misleading title is still online in the Philippine Star website.