SG-based Pinoy wins grand prize in stock trading challenge

Impressive Monthly Profit Ratio of 75.92% 

Sonny de Asis Villamer, a Filipino engineering manager working for a design firm in Singapore recently bagged the top prize for posting the highest profit ratios at a stock trading challenged launched by the social trading platform eToro. 

An amateur who had spent only four months on the platform, Villamer emerged as the trading challenge’s top earner, with an impressive monthly profit ratio of 75.92%. He bested thousands of other traders, earning him the top prize of US$5,000 in the April contest. 

“The most important thing is to follow a trading strategy that fits your risk profile and appetite. It doesn’t matter if the system is basic or complicated. Different strategies work differently for all investors and as long as one works for you, stick with it,” Villamer said. 

“I am currently learning new strategies and hope to possibly use them to my advantage in the upcoming competitions,” he said. “I also plan to diversify my investments in different asset classes.” 

Copy trading, mentoring, profiting

If Villamer, a newbie and only a few years back uninitiated to stock trading, makes it sound easy, it’s because he was using a patented “copy trader“ feature on eToro, that gives the platform’s users a chance to view their peers’ portfolios, market moves, and risk scores among others, and copy a particular trader’s portfolio if they deem it appropriate for their own. 

The feature makes it profitable for a “mentoring community” on the platform as users who have had their portfolios copied by others earn commissions, and novice users can increase their chances of earning by turning to more experienced investors. 

According to Villamer, eToro’s Stop Loss and Take Profit options, which allows users to set particular prices before buying or selling stocks in the market, has further made him a more “disciplined” trader. 

“I did not know about these features before I began using eToro and had absolutely no idea what I was missing out on. It gives me peace of mind that I can pre-plan my trade,” he added. 

Stock investing for neophytes

For the uninitiated, stock investing can be overwhelming. There are graphs to learn, real money to risk, and valuable time to spend just so one’s hard-earned capital grows. With most thinking it is solely for moneyed experts, it’s not surprising to find some professionals think stock investing may not be for them. 

Villamer took his time before jumping into the world of stock investing, despite constant nudging from friends. It was only in 2016 when he finally decided to take his chances. 

Since then, Villamer was able to grow his stock portfolio in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Still, he knew that he could earn more, if only he could manage his stocks better. 

“I like how eToro allows investors to trade in global stock markets. The time factor has been particularly very beneficial to me,” Villamer said. 

So even though Villamer is based in Southeast Asia, he could still trade his tech stocks like Twitter, once the New York Stock Exchange opens right before he goes to sleep. 

The engineer’s experience on the eToro platform has also given him a chance to reflect on his investment plays and rethink his strategies, allowing him to grow not just portfolio but his knowledge of the industry, too.

The said “copy trading” features and insights have been instrumental and critical to Villamer’s trading tactics and bolstered his confidence – enough to win the platform’s trading challenge. 

In a bid to keep its platform informative and engaging, eToro launched a monthly trading challenge since March that would give eligible users a chance to collectively win as much as $143,000 in total by the time the contest ends on December 31. The mechanics are simple: the top 10 users who posted the highest profit ratios for a particular month will share that month’s pot prize. 

The trading challenge is still on-going, with total monthly prize posted at $15,000. 

About eToro

eToro, the world’s leading social trading platform, allows eligible traders to invest in some of the biggest stock markets in the globe, wherever they may be. Founded in 2007, the platform has evolved from a mere foreign currency trading platform into a multi-asset one, offering over 1,300+ stocks, 145 ETFs, 47 currencies, 13 indices, and 15 cryptocurrencies. As of 2019, the platform has over 10 million users in 140 countries.