What kind of short term financial instruments do you recommend in Colombia..

gimmedub says on Oct 9, 2008, 07:06:

CDT's only way to go... ~9% return ain't bad on a short term investment!

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calipro says on Oct 9, 2008, 07:14:

gimmedub

Can I buy the CDT's right from BanColmbia and do they sell them for 3 or 6 month terms?

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pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 9, 2008, 07:47:

calipro says on Oct 9, 2008, 08:53:

Ok thanks pedro.

But isn't form 5 the one that the bank automatically files?

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pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 9, 2008, 08:56:

calipro says on Oct 9, 2008, 09:11:

Well I don't think I'll be in Cali when the funds are deposited into my account.

I think the last time I wired funds to Cali the bank filed a form 5 and then I went ahead and filed a form 4 with the Banco de la Republica.

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viajero123 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 9, 2008, 09:20:

Mamey says on Oct 9, 2008, 11:22:

I thought the same thing about Santander, but It's not really 10%, it comes at something less than 6%. You have to read the fine print. BanColombia is paying 9.4% for their 6 month LEASING or SUFI CDT's.

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Tejeringo says on Oct 9, 2008, 12:16:

I would not invest in the Colombian Housing Market , not until August 2009.

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gatogris says on Oct 9, 2008, 12:58:

In the case of real estate in Cali, I wouldn't bother looking for a short term investment while you sit on your hands, real estate in that city is actually pretty stable if you pay cash, it'll only fluctuate a couple of percentage points either way, and you'd be better off doing the research on location and development potential and just pulling the trigger rather than wait around. Don't sweat the small stuff.

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spy1983 says on Oct 9, 2008, 13:45:

NONE

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george_in_medellin says on Oct 9, 2008, 14:00:

Careful, once you wire more than approx $20K USD to your bancolombia account they freeze further wires and demand documentation like us bank extracts, the compra-venta promise for your real estate and a notarized, apostillado letter from your accountant with evidence of how much you make and that it's legal.

If you want to get great conversion rates and move lots of money for whatever reason, deal with someone on the Bolsa, for example in Medellin, Alianza de Valores. IIRC the same documenation with them gets you wires of up to $100K USD which you can move into investments, real estate etc.

If the money comes in for a non-Colombian citizen though you have to present some paperwork to the central bank every 3 mos. If you're married to a Col citizen and want to put it in their name, you only have to re-present same paperwork annually.

I'm going thru this right now, buying an apartment and also have resident visa.

hth

George Donnelly Writer, Business Owner, Libertarian, IT Guy georgedonnelly.com

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calipro says on Oct 9, 2008, 14:11:

I didn't realize different institutions in Colombia offered better exchange rates than others.

I thought they all used the same rate set by Banco de la Repulica.

http://www.banrep.gov.co/statistics/sta_exchange_d.htm

Anyway I'll let you know what happens.

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el chinito says on Oct 9, 2008, 14:14:

Bancolombia offers another type of account called fiducuenta. It's sort of like a money market account. You can transfer money freely between your regular account and the fiducuenta. The interest rate varies, but it's around 9-10%. I had money in CDTs but with Bancolombia you only start getting decent interest with 90 days. Also since the CDTs are not really with Bancolombia, you pay the 0.4% when you buy them. There is no cost moving money between a regular account and the fiducuenta. Also the CDTs automatically renew when the term is up. Fine, but to cash them in you have a three day window to show up at the bank when they expired. They let me sign the forms a week ahead of time for my last CDT, but I had another one expiring two months later and they said I had to come back at the right time to sign the papers. I'm switching from CDTs to the fiducuenta. I've been sitting on this money while deciding how to procede with renovating a house in Cali (another story but I don't want to digress.). On the bancolombia site you can find info:
http://www.grupobancolombia.com/personal/necesidades/inviertedinero/fo...

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Noelito40 says on Oct 9, 2008, 15:15:

Yeah, I'd go with a CDT also. Have a look at Correval, they are mroe an investment house than a retail bank but they usually can better any rate offered by the personal banks.

El chinito...

"Also since the CDTs are not really with Bancolombia, you pay the 0.4% when you buy them"

Wow, this is a surprise, I was led to believe that one of the benefits of CDT's were that they were exempt from the 4 por mil!!?

Noelito

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el chinito says on Oct 9, 2008, 16:16:

I think they may have sold me SUFI CDTs which have a slightly higher rate of interest. That might explain the 4 por mil. Also, I just checked Bancolombia's website: with CDTs 90 days or over you get 10 days grace instead of 3 to cash them in when they expire.

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spy1983 says on Oct 9, 2008, 17:10:

There is a reason people flee the dollar in a crises. I just hope people with money in Colombian banks don't find out the hard way this time.

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elk says on Oct 10, 2008, 04:42:

Just how secure are the banks in Colombia? No such thing as FDIC insurance to my knowledge. Another question, why do many Colombians avoid the Colombian banks and keep cash in their homes?

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Tejeringo says on Oct 10, 2008, 09:26:

COWS?!

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ujay says on Oct 10, 2008, 09:31:

i dont know about cows ,but i have been with a few dogs here as well.

http://www.jukelightning.com

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spy1983 says on Oct 10, 2008, 14:18:

If a Socialist Pres ever gets in lookout.

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ujay says on Oct 10, 2008, 18:40:

get them from lee watson gringoloid ,and his from the usa been here 40 years

http://www.jukelightning.com

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ujay says on Oct 10, 2008, 19:56:

lee the one that had the casinos down town ,and the big finca out at melgar,his young girl was kidnaped a few years ago ,cost him all he had to get her back ,hes one of the few gringos that goes to the mines,been in emeralds for over 30 years.a great guy.
his office is cll 13. 6 ,i will take you for dinner with him when you get to botota.

http://www.jukelightning.com

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Ctg Bound says on Oct 12, 2008, 06:30:

calipro,

I would just park it in a standard savings account.

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