BDO trust fund assets jump 13% to P382.6 billion as of March

MANILA, Philippines - The total assets under management (AUM) held by the trust department of Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO) has reached P382.586 billion as of end-March this year, growing 13 percent from P338.1 billion at end-2008.

BDO said the amount is the largest among all trust departments of any banking institution in the country.

“There is a large demand from the market for more investment options or opportunities,” said Ador A. Abrogena, BDO executive vice president and head of the trust and investment group.

Complementing the huge appetite for investments is the front-loading of corporations for their capital requirements.

In the first four months of the year, major corporations went to the market for capital, including San Miguel Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Globe Telecom Ayala Land and Robina Farms.

Of the total AUMs, personal trust accounts cornered 48 percent, corporate trust account comprised 31 percent, the unit investment trust funds (UITF) accounted for 12 percent, and the remaining are special trust accounts.

The UITFs alone grew over 28.7 percent, from P26.566 billion at end-2008 to P34.213 billion in March this year.

BDO offers eight UITF variants in the areas of fixed income or bonds, equities, money market, and balanced funds. There are variants in peso and dollar denominations.

BDO also revealed that the popularity of the special deposit accounts (SDAs) accounted for the strong growth of trust accounts for most banks with trust licenses. SDA interest earnings ranged from a high of over eight percent to a low of a little over four percent.

Total AUMs managed by the trust departments of all banks amounted to a record P1.3 trillion last year.

Trust funds are managed by banking institutions issued licenses by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Non-bank asset management companies operate mutual funds and are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).