BPI launches 8 indices

MANILA, Philippines - The Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) is the first domestic financial institution to offer financial market indices, accessible not only for the domestic market but also for the global financial market.

Foreign fund managers selling Philippine portfolios can benchmark their products using the BPI indices.

BPI executive vice president and head of Financial Products & Services Simon Paterno said BPI Index provides domestic and foreign investors and portfolio managers with barometers representing domestic stock or bond markets, which fund or portfolio managers could access the actual performance of individual investment portfolios.

There are eight indices namely, BPI Philippine Government Bond Index, BPI Philippine Government Bond one to three year Index, BPI Philippine Government Bond one to five-year Index, BPI Philippine Government five plus-year Index, BPI Philippine Government Liquid Bond Index, BPI Philippine Government Money Market Index, BPI Philippine Corporate Bond Index and BPI Philippine Equity Total Return Index.

Last month, HSBC withdrew its indices in the market, leaving a vacuum for benchmarks for the country’s capital markets.

But what is more important is that BPI not only fills in a vacuum created by the departure of HSBC in the benchmarking process. “It is also offered for free,” Paterno said.

There are a few foreign players that are offering similar services but charge fees.

BPI already made a presentation with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The BSP will not accredit or endorse the indices but will authenticate and ensure its credibility.

Another contribution to the capital markets is BPI Indices fulfills the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requirement that indices or benchmarks must be included when submitting prospectus and annual reports to stakeholders.

Meanwhile, BIMI president Jose Mari L. Valmayor said BPI Philippine Corporate Bond Index plugs the hole for previously unavailable transparent pricing of debt of the country’s biggest borrowers. BIMI or BPI Investment Management Inc., is the index calculation agent.

“Analysts can also refer to the new index to analyze more thoroughly the difference in performance of the Philippine equity and bond markets,” Valmayor said.