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Philippines: Bank of Commerce grows managed assets to P63 billion
MANILA, Philippines — Bank of Commerce, the banking arm of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), built up its assets under management (AUM) by 63 percent to P63 billion last year by widening its retail investor client base.
Ramon Ang, president and CEO of SMC, said the strong showing of Bank of Commerce in investment products is one way of fulfilling the conglomerate’s mandate to all its businesses to support the economy and help more Filipinos amid the pandemic.
“We have seen the many impacts of the pandemic on our economy, on businesses, and our everyday lives. We need to continue finding ways to help more people become resilient and make smarter financial decisions,” he said.
“SMC’s businesses are all geared towards improving the lives of Filipinos, whether it’s providing high-quality, affordable products, or building infrastructure to stimulate and sustain economic growth. Banking and financial services are also an important area of focus for us, that is why we’re leaning more heavily on Bank of Commerce to provide smart financial solutions, whether for ordinary Filipinos or larger corporate clients.”
Bank of Commerce president Michelangelo Aguilar said the bank surpassed its P60 billion target by five percent due to the robust performance of its unit investment trust funds (UITFs) and investment management accounts (IMAs).
“We saw a 126 percent increase year-on-year in AUM for UITFs. Likewise, IMAs, which cater to clients with substantial funds looking for higher yields such as through bonds, common or preferred shares, grew 65 percent year-on-year,” he said.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Aguilar pointed out clients picked more conservative products to better cover for future contingencies.
Aside from strengthening its retail investor client base, Bank of Commerce also pushed for wider access to low-risk and medium-to-long term investments.
“Our efforts to align our investment products with our customers’ needs, enabling them to maximize their revenue potential as we ensure the success of our portfolio, were key factors to our strong performance,” Aguilar said.
Likewise, there was a 49 percent increase in the bank’s other fiduciary activities (OFA) business for corporate clients looking to tap the investing public for capital.
As a result, Bank of Commerce now ranks ninth in terms of AUM as of end-September 2021, an improvement from 11th place in 2020.
The bank’s AUM more than doubled, growing by 103 percent between 2018 and 2021, beating the industry’s compounded annual growth rate of 13 percent.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier upgraded the license of Bank of Commerce to a universal bank from a commercial bank, allowing it to offer a wider variety of services to more clients, particularly debt and equity securities.
The bank is also looking to expand its portfolio through more product alliances with third-party institutions.
Aguilar said Filipino investors would remain cautious in 2022 and prefer government securities and instruments issued by credit-worthy companies with strong and consistent cash flows.
“Attuned to the current risk appetite of our clients, we will continue to grow our AUM by providing them with quality short- or long-term investment opportunities through products and services catering to their financial goals,” he said.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/02/04/2158348/bank-commerce-grows-managed-assets-p63-billion