Manuel Gomez new AUB prexy

Two decades after the establishment of Asia United Bank (AUB), its founding president Abraham Co is set to bow out of day-to-day operations and turn over the helm to fellow AUB pioneer Manuel Gomez.

Co, 69, will stay on as bank chair while AUB’s principal shareholder – 76-year-old business magnate Jacinto Ng Sr. who is also in the snackfood, real estate and power generation businesses – will be chair emeritus.

This succession program, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018, was announced by Ng himself during AUB’s grand 20-year anniversary celebration at Marriott Grand Ballroom on Thursday night.

The Rebisco group patriarch also announced that his youngest son, Jacob Ng, currently a member of the AUB board and concurrent chief transformation officer and head of consumer lending would become chief transformation officer and head of branch banking also effective Jan. 1.

Gomez, 63, is currently AUB executive vice president and head of branch banking. He joined Co when the latter was assembling the management team of AUB 20 years ago. Before that, he worked at Citibank, where he was responsible for setting up the consumer treasury business. Both Gomez and Co came from BA Finance and had known each other since 1974.

Asked what AUB would strive for in the coming years, Gomez told reporters that it’s no secret that the bank was aspiring to be among the top 10 biggest players in the country.

In terms of assets as of end-June, AUB ranked 14th among the country’s 42 operating commercial and universal banks with resources amounting to around P186 billion. It also ranks 14th in terms of loan book and deposits. It operates over 227 branches nationwide.

In terms of return on equity, AUB ranked ninth highest with 10.84 percent.

“There are really a lot of opportunities. These opportunities present themselves but you can also create opportunities. We will take those opportunities one step at a time,” Gomez told reporters during the anniversary banquet on Thursday night.

“It’s going to be a new journey for us. We will have to redefine ourselves. We will have to ask ourselves if we want to stick to the kind of market that we’re serving now or explore other markets where we’re not in,” he added.

Moving forward, Gomez said AUB would harness technology as its banking platform instead of going through the costly route of putting up branches left and right.

“Before, we would chase profits and chase assets in order to build business and create an image. Twenty years is more or less enough (for those). We’ve matured,” he said.

Asked about bancassurance and wealth management, Gomez said these would be among the businesses to consider. He said AUB would likewise be open to taking in more foreign partners and investors. If there’s a beneficial opportunity, he said this could be one way to reach the goal of entering the top 10 league.