BPI maintains formidable lead in trust industry

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is now the undisputed leader in trust management, it said yesterday.

BPI Asset Management and Trust Group currently accounts for over 23 percent of total commercial bank’s trust portfolio of P450 billion.

Emilio S. de Quiros Jr., BPI executive vice president and BPI Asset Management Group head, said BPI now handles fiduciary assets of over P100 billion or close to $2 billion in dollar terms.

De Quiros said that as a result of the merger between BPI and Far East Bank and Trust Co., "we become a far more formidable industry leader in the trust business."

The trust and fiduciary industry has three major industry divisions, namely, trust, investment management and common trust fund (CTF). BPI Asset Management’s products include segregated portfolio management for institutional accounts, personal wealth management, trust administration, provident fund administration & common trust funds, among others.

On its CTFs, BPI has four US-denominated funds known as the BPI International Funds Plus (IFP), BPI International Funds (IF), BPI Global Philippine Fund (GPF), and BPI Global Equity Fund (GEF).

De Quiros said the AMTG is now coming out with a number of products, "one of the products we will be launching is the Individual Retirement Account (BPI IRA)," he said.

"It is basically geared towards individuals who will set aside funds and leave them for at least five years," De Quiros said.