Metrobank’s investment house gets license to offer trust, fiduciary services

MANILA, Philippines—First Metro Investment Corp., the investment house unit of the Metrobank group, has obtained a license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to offer trust and other fiduciary services.

The authority allows FMIC to create a unit that will act as trustee or administer any trust or hold property in trust or on deposit for the use and benefit of others, and/or act as financial consultant, investment adviser or portfolio manager.  As a trustee, it is mandated to administer the funds or property under its custody with the diligence that a prudent man would exercise in the conduct of an enterprise.

“Our business model is not to pursue traditional trust businesses,” said FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo in an interview, adding that the trust operations to be undertaken by his company would complement its investment banking and investment advisory activities.

Dispo said that as FMIC has been dominating the market in terms of arranging government and corporate issuance, having a trust license would enhance its distribution capability.

“In the area of investment advisory, we would also like to be active in fund management space now that we have a trust license,” Dispo said. “With a trust license, potential clients can outsource the fund management to us.”

Among the potential clients that FMIC would like to have an outsourcing deal in fund management were the state-controlled pension funds Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System as well as the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., an attached agency of the Department of Health.

“We’re competent to handle outsourcing of fund management,” Dispo said.

In line with this diversification into the trust business, FMIC is creating a trust department and hiring more staff to man the operations. “It’s going to be a lean operation,” he said.