Asialink taps new CEOs, sees robust growth

MANILA, Philippines — The Asialink Group of Companies has reorganized and strengthened its top management starting 2025 as its group CEO eyes further growth in its existing core businesses and expansion into new opportunities in lending to small and medium enterprises.

“Team Asialink is clear eyed on our growth path and knows that the market, which is still largely untapped, offers opportunities for our taking. With the funding support we have been getting from major institutions, we are poised for significant growth,” Group CEO and Asialink co-founder Robert Jordan Jr. said.

Eillen Mangubat, president and COO of Asialink Finance Corp. (AFC) for the past 18 years, will transition into her new leadership role as deputy CEO of the Asialink Group.

She will be replaced as AFC president by Samuel Cariño, formerly deputy COO of sales at Global Dominion of the Asialink Group and by Eleanor Yap, currently executive vice president of Global SME, which is part of the Asialink group, as the new COO.

Kevin John Cabanban, deputy COO of AFC, will assume the presidency of South Asialink Finance Corp. (SAFC), replacing Joel Cruz who has retired. Ahzin Cabrera, deputy for operations, will serve as SAFC COO.

The Asialink group, Jordan added, is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years now that it has more resources to meet the huge unmet demand for loans from the largely unbanked small and medium enterprises.

“We are just scratching the surface of our market. About 99 percent of the 1.2 million businesses here are SMEs and Asialink has been catering to only 200,000 of them so far,” he said.

Meanwhile, AFC has received $115 million in credit from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), HSBC and Security Bank Capital Investment Corp. last month to fund its lending business to small and medium enterprises, especially those led by women.

The funding package comprised $50 million from the ADB, $50 million from HSBC via the HSBC ASEAN Growth Fund and $15 million from the Security Bank unit. The transaction was facilitated with Paulton & Co. acting as Asialink’s financial advisor.

The project is expected to increase Asialink’s total loans to SMEs to around P13 billion from P8.8 billion, with more than half of the financing are given to women-led firms. This would nearly double Asialink’s female entrepreneur borrowers to at least 20,000.

“Nonbank financial institutions play a key role in providing services to unbanked SMEs,” ADB director general for private sector operations Suzanne Gaboury said.