PRESIDENT Sheila Marie U. Tan had every reason to be proud last week as she reported to her board about the record performance of BPI Asset Management and Trust Corporation (BPI AMTC). BPI AMTC, which is celebrating its third year anniversary as a stand-alone trust corporation this February, has reached P731 billion in Asset Under Management (AUM).
This represents a record peak and year-on year growth of 24 percent with an average annual growth rate of seven percent for the past five years. Tan attributed the significant increase to strong net flows coupled with good market conditions. BPI AMTC's money market fund, long-term fixed income fund, and equity index fund delivered 4.36 percent, 19.04 percent, 5.27 percent, respectively. Its Unit Investment Trust Funds' (UITF) portfolio consists of 51 percent in money market funds, 32 percent in equity funds, 13 percent in fixed Income funds and four percent in balanced funds.
Previously operating as a business unit of BPI, BPI AMTC is the first among the trust departments of major local banks to spin off to a separate corporation in February 2017, and is currently operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). Today, the organization continues to dominate the Philippine market as the largest stand-alone trust corporation in terms of market share, with over 57 years of experience in the business.
Its UITFs continue to drive volume growth and leading the pack are the BPI Invest Short Term Funds with P71bn and industry market leader BPI Invest Philippine Equity Index Fund with P47.3bn. BPI AMTC continues to be a market product innovator, recently launching two (2) new UITFs, namely, BPI Invest USD Income Feeder Fund and BPI Invest USD Equity Index Fund - Peso Class. Strong media and marketing campaigns further validate the company's dominance in the Philippine Trust Industry.
The institution consistently receives accolades from various award giving bodies. It was named the Best Asset Manager for 2019 by International Finance magazine -- a distinction that the company has earned for the third year in a row, and the fourth award since first receiving the honor in 2013. The institution was also Highly Commended as the Asset Management Company of the Year by The Asset Triple A Asset Servicing, Institutional Investor and Insurance Awards 2019. Awarding bodies have also taken note of the exceptional funds the institution has produced. Alpha Southeast Asia granted the organization with a total of three awards for the year, Best Asset Manager for their Money Market and Balanced Funds and the Best Fund with the Optimal Information Ratio. Locally, AMTC bagged the Best Managed Funds of the Year for Balanced Peso and Equity Dollar category by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of the Philippines for the BPI Balanced Fund and BPI Global Equity Fund-of-Funds, respectively.
BPI AMTC proves to be a trail blazer not only in its core business but also in its thrust for financial inclusion and literacy. Filipinos perceive investments as very complicated and only for the wealthy. To address this, BPI AMTC has continuously innovated its programs to provide a simple approach and one-of-a-kind experience for learning investments. In 2017, BPI AMTC introduced its very own investment board game, ROI: Race On Investments. The board game simulates real-life situations, showing the risks and rewards for each decision made by players in the game. The game's objective is to teach players on how smart investing can help them achieve their life goals. With this innovative tool, BPI AMTC won the Best Financial Inclusion Program Award in the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines' 2nd Bank Marketing Awards.
BPI AMTC has been conducting Financial Wellness in partnership with different institutions and organizations to discuss basics of investing, emphasizing how easy, accessible and affordable it is to participate in the funds, providing every Filipino a chance to participate in the Philippine growth story.
As part of the institution's move towards digitalization and also to have a wider reach and greater accessibility, the Webinar and Spotify channels were introduced in 2018. The Webinar is a live seminar conducted via video streaming and allows a two-way communication between the speaker and the attendees. On the other hand, Spotify's streaming platform has allowed the institution to create financial wellness sessions called Investment Insights, available to all subscribers. Anyone can listen and learn topics ranging from Investment 101 to planning for your retirement. All of these contribute to BPI AMTC's efforts to promote financial literacy and to take a step closer to a wealthier Philippines.
BPI AMTC's Board of Directors include Antonio Jose U. Periquet, Chairman; Cezar P. Consing, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Mercedita S. Nolledo, Rebecca G. Fernando, Jesse O. Ang, Maria Dolores V. Yuviengco, and this writer, Directors; and Sheila Marie U. Tan, President.
BPI AMTC's Senior Management is made up of Sheila Marie U. Tan, President; Smith L. Chua, Chief Investment Officer and Head of Investment Management Division; Yvette Mari V. de Peralta, Head of Clients Segment Division; Marijoy Y. Kawpeng, Treasurer and Head of Strategic Planning & Marketing; Ronald Bernard P. Bello, Head of Operations and Technology & Project Management, and Marie Paz A. Garcia, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer.