BPI unit eyes managing P3T for wealthy clients

MANILA, Philippines — The wealth management unit of Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) plans to grow its assets under management (AUM) to P3 trillion by 2026, riding on the robust growth of the banking sector as the country continues its postpandemic recovery.

Maria Theresa Marcial, BPI Wealth president and CEO, on Thursday acknowledged that this was an “ambitious” goal, saying that it would take “a major transformation for us to be able to get to this target.”

As of end-2023, BPI Wealth’s AUM reached P1.22 trillion, a 40-percent surge from 2022.

“This year, we’re expecting a 6-percent growth for the Philippines,” Marcial said during a roundtable discussion with reporters.

“We’re looking at continuous recovery in other parts of the world … markets are buoyant again and this creates a lot of opportunities for investments,” she said.

BPI Private Wealth

BPI Wealth is a standalone trust corporation wholly owned by the Ayala Group’s banking arm. It currently has around 600,000 to 700,000 customers of the total 11 million served by the entire BPI Group.

The company’s units include BPI Private Wealth, the rebranded private banking business launched in 2023 that offers exclusive and “instant access to liquidity without compromising long-term investment strategies.”

BPI Private Wealth, whose customers include high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNWI) individuals, sees loans this year reaching P12 billion as it launches new projects meant to improve the various “experiences” of its clients, which now include a younger generation of professionals.

Perlu Mapanao, BPI senior vice president and head of the banking giant’s Wealth Loan unit, told reporters that they sought to hasten loan approvals for their clients.

“They deserve the fastest service … Since we already know our clients, [loan approvals] will be faster; you can do it in days as opposed to having to wait for months,” Mapanao said.

Next Gen Wealth Elite Academy

By global standards, HNWIs are those whose net worth ranges from $1 million to less than $5 million. UNHWIs, meanwhile, are those with at least $30 million in net worth. Those between $5 million and $30 million are considered very-high-net-worth individuals.

Of around 20,000 customers included in these segments in the Philippines, around 25 percent are currently BPI Wealth clients, according Marcial.

As a younger generation of professionals seek to become business leaders in their own industries and families, BPI Private Wealth also launched its inaugural Next Gen Wealth Elite Academy last year.

Program participants were coached on financial management, banking, trading, investing and bank operations, among others, according to BPI Private Wealth.

In 2023, BPI posted a record profit of P51.7 billion, up by 30.5 percent, as interest earnings increased on the back of higher rates.

BPI, the Philippines’ third largest lender, also said loans last year reached P1.9 trillion, a 10.5-percent growth on “strong growth across all portfolios.”