BPI eyes 20% hike in trust funds to P600 billion this year

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-controlled Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is targeting a 20-percent increase in its assets under management (AUM) to around P600 billion this year, a senior bank official said.

Theresa Marcial-Javier, BPI senior vice president and group head of BPI Asset Management, said the integration of the local trust and investment management operations of ING by March would boost the bank’s trust business further.

As of September 2010, its AUM stood at P458 billion and expects to end the year at P500 billion. BPI accounts for 20 percent of the total funds managed by the trust fund industry, which reportedly reached P2.2 trillion as of end-September last year.

Last month, BPI acquired the trust and investment management business of the Manila operations of ING Bank NV worth roughly P79 billion, which will ultimately be integrated into BPI.

ING has 13 unit investment trust fund (UITF) products. BPI manages about P26.5 billion worth of UITFs.

“More and more individuals will look for better investment options other than ordinary bank savings and time deposits,” Javier said.

BPI Equity Fund grew over 41 percent last year from 33 percent in 2009 while its ALFM Peso Bond Fund rose just over nine percent last year from 4.75 percent in 2009.