PET Plans projects 30% growth in new businesses

Banking on its aggressive marketing strategy and improved distribution network, pension plan issuer PET Plans Inc. projects a 30-percent growth in new businesses this year.

During the unveiling of the company’s ISO 9001 certificate last Monday night, PET Plans executive vice-president Lorenzo Ocampo said: "We intend to do better this year than last year because of improved business conditions and a larger distribution network."

Ocampo said PET Plans has 133 branches nationwide.

He said the improved sales will also come from military accounts and a new referral system implemented in October last year, which has already yielded positive results for the company.

PET Plans expects initial collections this year to reach between P160 million and P180 million as against P97 million in 2002.

The company was recently given the go-signal by the SEC to issue P2.25-billion worth of new education plans and to provide pension loan assistance to planholders subject to certain conditions.

Only planholders with fully paid plans can avail themselves of the loan, which shall be equivalent to 80 percent of the plan termination value. The loan shall be charged an interest rate of 12 percent per annum.

The borrower shall pay the loan over a period of one year from date of release of the loan with the first amortization due one month after the date of release.

PET Plans said the program will allow it to continue servicing the pre-need plan loan requirements of its planholders and provide the trustee banks with additional investment avenue that guarantees an income that meets the hurdle rate required by the pre-need plan program.

The company has an authorized capital stock of P120 million, P100 million of which has been subscribed and paid.

Apart from Ocampo, officers and directors of PET Plans include former Philippine Stock Exchange president Eduardo de los Angeles, Fr. Edmundo Martinez, Adrian Ocampo, Enrique Herbosa, and Erlinda Henson.

Aside from education and pension plans,PET Plans also sells memorial plans. From 1989 to present, the company has been consistent in the country’s top 10 pre-need plan companies. – Zinnia Dela Peña