BPI holds record P700-B assets under management

MANILA, Philippines - The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has reached a record P700 billion in assets under management (AUMs) as of end January this year.

BPI Asset Management and Trust Group (BPI-AMTG), a BPI subsidiary, is the overall fund manager for BPI assets that includes managing mutual funds, unit investment trust funds (UITFs), the Odyssey funds, and other traditional trust products such as those in escrow, reserves of pre-need companies, corporate and institutional funds, pension and provident funds.

BPI Investment Management Inc. (BIMI) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BPI, is the fund manager and principal distributor of the six ALFM mutual funds, as well as the Bahay Pari Solidaritas Fund and Ekklesia Mutual Fund.

BPI serves as investment advisor to all mutual fund managed and distributed by BIMI.

The largest portfolio is the wealth management, accounting for roughly 40 percent of total followed by the institutional accounts taking approximately 24 percent. Then, traditional trust products accounting for 22 percent, and the Odyssey funds for 14 percent.

The Peso Fixed Income Funds group ballooned to about P67.3 billion in January 2012. It is a mixed of unit investment trust fund (UITF) and mutual funds and includes the BPI Short Term Fund, BPI Premium Fund and the BPI Institutional Fund, which combined amounts to over P13 billion.

The ALFM Peso Bond Fund remains the single largest mutual fund managed by the BPI fund managers. In fact, it is also the country’s largest mutual fund, and among the more popular investment instruments for individual investors.

Also part of the huge Peso Fixed Income Funds are the Odyssey Peso Cash Management Fund, the Odyssey Peso Income Fund, the Odyssey Bond Fund and the Odyssey Tax-Exempt Peso Fixed Income Fund.

The Odyssey funds as managed by fund managers that came from the acquisition by BPI of the ING asset management group. In fact, the Odyssey funds alone amount to P92.03 billion.

Meanwhile, the Global Fixed Income Funds amount to roughly P17.8 billion. Three of the largest funds are the ALFM Dollar Bond Fund (P7.5 billion), the Odyssey Philippine Dollar Bond (P4.2 billion), and the BPI Global Philippine Fund (P3.8 billion).

Peso Equity Funds grew to approximately P24.7 billion, and the Global Equity Fund grew in the vicinity of P4.5 billion.

BPI defines mutual funds as a collective investment scheme, which pool money from a large number of shareholders and invest in a portfolio-which may include money market, bond/fixed income or equity securities.

A UITF is an open-ended pooled trust fund denominated in pesos or any acceptable currency, which is operated and administered by a trust entity.

Most UITFs are considered medium to long-term investments.

Initial investments for individual investors amount to P10,000 in most funds, with succeeding placements of P5.000. The amounts vary in the case of institutional investors and the investment vehicle. Returns are generally better than simple bank deposit products.