MANILA, Philippines — Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco or TG, as he prefers to be called, is well-known in the banking industry having had various experience with J.P Morgan and Co. and British banking giant Barclays, Bank of the Philippine Islands and the Ayala Group of Companies.

He assumed the top post as chief executive officer of BPI just this April, replacing Cesar “Bong” Consing who has retired.

Life skills

TG did not start out with a clear-cut plan for his education and his eventual career in banking and even in BPI.

This was true from the start of his educational path. However, he credits his father for instilling in him the desire to learn and the value of a good education.

His early schooling was from Ateneo,  and his initial choice for higher education was at the University of the Philippines Diliman, which TG loved and which he believes continues to provide good education up to today.

But TG’s father wanted him to have the choice of getting the best education and  encouraged him to apply with  foreign universities of his choice.

TG acknowledges, “the best gift any parent can give their kids is education…that’s something that lasts forever…,” but, he adds, “give them the most challenging (education)… and you have to encourage your kids.”

Just like his father, TG has also given the best education he can to his own children, who are all in the US, with one already a doctor and doing her resident training, another involved in marketing, and the third, an engineer, about to relocate to Canada.

For the kids, TG’s advice is “ go for the hardest thing you can think of…don’t go for the easy route because challenges not only teach you, but they also strengthen you….emotionally and intellectually…”

The next question he is then often asked is “what should they take up?” To which, he replies, “take up not a career, but an interest… what you should take up in college is what truly interests you…”

He has observed that some kids “take a course because they feel… this is my  job…what happens there is that they don’t really learn life skills,  they learn a career…”

Life skills, TG points out, are more important now with the number of opportunities available to the younger generation and the change in job descriptions is no longer the same as a couple of years ago.

TG, himself, initially took up business administration for one year in UP before he realized “it wasn’t really my cup of tea.” He then switched to mathematical sciences, which was what he truly was interested in. It was also at about the same time he was accepted by Stanford University.

His move to study in the US, TG admits “threw me out of my comfort zone” as he had to live alone, had no friends and was a “no one… di ka kilala…and you feel so alone.”

He persevered, he learned, made new friends, and survived!

It was through that process he learned life skills, which he believes are much more important to learn at that point in time than professional skills.

TG points out that professional skills are learned on the job. In fact, when hiring people, he does not necessarily look for the degree, but rather on their experience and the ability of the person to communicate, what he has done, if the person is analytical. “That is more important,” he says.

The value of a network of friends

Next to a good education and learning important life skills, TG’s second advice is “Never belittle the importance of a network and friends. They will be there to help you, … to make introductions for you…”

He qualifies though that a network does not necessarily push you up in your career… “But if you have a good network, people know you, and your achievements get spread around faster, …they don’t necessarily open doors for you, but there is a good group of people who say good things about you.”

TG graduated from Ivy League Stanford University with a BS Mathematical Sciences (Honors Program) degree, and  also obtained an MBA in Finance and Investment Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Banking career

However, TG did not immediately embark on a banking career after he graduated. Instead, his first job after he graduated in 1984 was as a software programmer/analyst for semiconductor firm VLSI Technology Inc., where he stayed for two years up to 1986.

His path to finance and banking started in 1988 when he was hired by J.P Morgan and Co. to work in New York. However, after a short one year, TG realized that he did not actually picture himself living in the US and wanted a career, but could not see himself reaching the CEO level in a non-Filipino company.

Thus, he decided to leave and return to the Philippines to stake his career here early.

BPI

When he returned to the Philippines in 1989, TG was jobless. Fortunately, a senior official in J.P. Morgan had advised him that with his decision to return, there was only one company to join…and that was BPI.

He was interviewed by BPI and another bank, but after his interview and talk with then BPI president Xavier Loinaz, the choice was clearly the Ayala-led institution.

He was a senior manager and part of the Corporate Finance group of BPI from 1989 to 1992.

But after just three years, another opportunity beckoned, with his previous employer, J.P Morgan -- offering him another challenge as vice president based in Singapore, where he ended up staying only up to 1995.

According to TG, his deal with J.P. Morgan was to build a business with the Philippines. When J.P. Morgan decided not to proceed with that plan,  TG decided to go back to the Philippines where he really wanted to build a career.

Luckily for TG, Loinaz decided to take him back even though it was a policy of Loinaz not to take back someone who has left the bank. He made an exception for TG on the basis that since TG had gone back to J.P. Morgan and it was “cosa nostra” or family, it was okay to return.

Looking back though, TG believes that  Loinaz would not have taken him back if he had gone to a direct local competitor.

TG, himself, admits that he would not rehire a top senior officer, especially one that he has nurtured, if they go to a direct competitor. However, for junior officers, TG is more understanding as they need to learn or what he terms “fluff their wings.”

Thus, from January 1995 to January 1997, TG was back in the BPI fold as president of BPI Capital Corp.

But once again, another challenge presented itself and he had to bid Loinaz another goodbye to become, at 35, the youngest Filipino country head of Barclays Bank  from April to November 1997.

His stint with Barclays turned out to be quite brief as the Asian financial market fell into a crisis that forced Barclays to close all of its Asian operations.

As such, TG admits that he was not exactly loyal to BPI, but true to his belief, he refused to take the easy route and chose to always rise to the challenge.

But as the saying goes, a good man never stays down, and true enough, this time around, it was not Loinaz who asked him to rejoin the fold, but rather, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Manny Bengzon who reached out to TG to return to the Ayala Group, no longer with BPI,  but with Ayala Corp. as managing director from 1998 to 2006.

TG has held various positions in Ayala affiliates – as president of MyAyala.com from 2001 to 2006; CFO/director of Azalea Technology investments also from 2001 to 2006.

He returned to BPI Capital Corp. in 2007 as president up to 2010. From 2010 to 2015 he served as president and director of BPI Family Savings Bank.

And from 2015 to 2021 he was the chief financial officer of Ayala Corp., during which period he won the ING-FINEX CFO of the Year Award in 2017.

Keeping focused

With his interest in mathematical sciences, TG is very analytical and focused in dealing with problems.

Two things help him do this…running and sitting down in front of his computer, using either Word or Excel to list pros and cons of something. In fact, he says, he has gotten so good at using Excel  that he has even installed it on his cell phone.

He runs about four to five times a week and can cover from five up to 10 kilometers, depending on how much time he has.

He is also a member of the BPI Runners Club and has participated in a couple of marathons.

Running, TG explains, allows him to focus as he  “enters into a zone” without distractions.

Legacy of a clean name

As he has gotten more influential, TG realizes the need to help and share more in whatever way he can. Pointing out that “it takes so little to do so” and could involve something as small as making an introduction or a phone call.

He agrees that extending a helping hand has proven time and again that “it comes back a thousand-fold.”

But his ultimate advice, which his father has inculcated in him is “keep your name super clean. It is the only asset you can pass on to your children.”

Just in case you were wondering what TG stands for, his nanny was actually responsible for giving him his nickname, which was supposed to be the initials for Teodoro Jose or TJ, but which she pronounced as TG and which eventually stuck.