Sabin Aboitiz set to lead AEV in 2020

Conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) unveiled on Wednesday a succession plan that will put Sabin Aboitiz at the helm, succeeding Erramon Aboitiz who will retire as president and chief executive effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Enrique Aboitiz, 64, was named chair of the board effective immediately, following the recent demise of Jon Ramon Aboitiz. Mikel Aboitiz was named vice chair, also effective immediately.

Incoming CEO Sabin Aboitiz, 53, has been executive vice president and chief operating officer of AEV since 2015. He is also the director and president/CEO of Pilmico, Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corp. (PANC) and Aboitiz InfraCapital. He holds a degree in Business Administration-Finance from Gonzaga University in Spokane, United States.

By the time Erramon Aboitiz, now 61, retires as CEO in 2020, he would have served as head of the conglomerate for 11 years.

The AEV board also elected as new director Ana Maria Delgado to serve the unexpired term of Jon Ramon Aboitiz.  Delgado comes from the fifth generation of the Aboitiz clan.

Delgado, 38, holds the position of senior vice president and center head of consumer finance and chief customer experience officer of Union Bank of the Philippines. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History/Painting degree from Boston College and obtained her master’s degree in Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business in 2010.

The board also approved the transfer of Horacio Elicano to the Gold Coin Group. He will cease to be data privacy officer effective Feb. 1, 2019.  Ricardo Lacson Jr., currently vice president for strategy, was named the new data privacy officer.

AEV, which originates from Cebu, has interests in power generation, distribution and retail electricity supply; financial services; food manufacturing; real estate; infrastructure; and portfolio investments.

The family-led conglomerate, now led by the fourth generation, adopts a competitive selection process to join the organization.  After graduating from college or masters program, each family member has to seek employment elsewhere.  Those who show great potential are then “invited” to join the conglomerate.  Most of those who made the cut are thus overseas educated and have experienced working for big groups here and abroad.

The Aboitiz house was founded by Paulino Aboitiz, the son of a Spanish farmer, in the late 1800s after he migrated to the Philippines from Spain. It began as an abaca-trading and general merchandise business and later moved into inter-island shipping, transporting goods across the Visayas. AEV became a public company in 1994 but kept construction and ship-building businesses privately held.