CAP shareholders offer more money to boost trust fund

Several shareholders of College Assurance Plan Philippines Inc. (CAP) have offered to put up additional money to boost the beleaguered pre-need firm’s trust fund and reassure its planholders that it would meet all its obligations.

This as CAP failed to infuse at least P2 billion into its trust fund to cover its deficiency.

A trust fund serves as a buffer fund to ensure that all obligations due to planholders will be met in case a pre-need plan firm runs into financial difficulty.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Lilia R. Bautista said: "Some are willing to sign a JSS (joint and several signatures) agreement to help CAP raise the needed money to strengthen its liquidity position."

Under the JSS, shareholders agree to guarantee the liabilities of CAP with their assets.

Apart from the Sobrepeña family, other major shareholders of CAP include the Thomson family, Jose A.R. Bengzon III, Rockshed Management, Romulo Espadon, Rafael Evangelista, Coronado Munasque, Euron Realty, Ernesto Espaldon, and Melchor Morales.

Following the failure of CAP to beat the May 15 deadline imposed by the SEC for it to settle its trust fund deficiency, the Commission has appointed an interim comptroller to evaluate the financial health of the the pre-need company and undertake needed measures to protect the interest of planholders.

SEC general accountant Roberto Manabat has been designated as interim comptroller of CAP effective immediately.

Manabat will also be tasked with ensuring that CAP contributes to a separate trust fund for new plan sales and drawing up measures to settle CAP’s maturing obligations.

Bautista, however, said Manabat would have to determine whether CAP shareholders would have to raise the additional money through a JSS agreement.

CAP has stressed that it has paid all maturing obligations on time and has been constantly looking for ways to better serve the needs of its clients and maintain the reputation of reliability it has built through the years.

CAP claimed that the deficiency incurred last year was caused by the Asian financial crisis and the consequent high cost of education in the country.

The company earlier infused P100 million in fresh capital and P36.9 million worth of real estate properties to its trust fund.

CAP president and chief executive officer Enrique Sobrepeña said earlier a "trust fund shortfall" was not necessarily a "cash deficiency" but an "asset trust fund present value deficiency" based on certain assumptions to settle the company’s maturing obligations years from the date of the actuarial valuation report.

The actuarial valuation report determines the sufficiency of the trust fund vis-à-vis the reserve requirement or the benefit obligation of the company to the planholder when the plan matures or at the time of need.

In case of a trust fund deficiency, pre-need firms are required by the SEC to submit a trust fund enhancement program or a funding scheme to be studied and approved by the Commission.

CAP reiterated that it has paid more than P6.5 billion in tuition fees covering almost a hundred thousands students, of whom some 40,000 had finished college.