Metrobank trust assets up

Total assets managed by the trust banking group of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) grew to P114 billion as of end February this year.

Last year, assets already stood at a record level of P105.5 billion. In the last three months of 2003 alone, the group was able to generate assets worth P34.5 billion.

The two-month "haul" of nearly P14 billion in assets under management (AUM), which in fact may force the trust banking group to reset its 2004 full year growth targets.

Josefina E. Sulit, Metrobank executive vice president and trust officer admitted that they were looking at a minimum 20 percent growth in the AUM this year. "But we are now close to reaching the target in the first quarter alone," Sulit added.

The trust group handles both traditional and common trust funds (CTFs) accounting for roughly 40 percent and 60 percent, respectively. It was almost equal in the case of the first two months of 2004.

Examples of traditional trust accounts (which are customized for specific demands of the clients) are escrow, estate planning, insurance in trust, employee benefits, pre-need funds, and custodianships. The CTFs is one big fund consisting of personal, corporate and institutional accounts handled a trustee bank as fund manager.

The P105.5-billion AUMs by the Metrobank trust group is the second biggest in the industry behind Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) which reported an AUM of nearly P130 billion at end 2003.

The total volume of the trust industry hit an all-time high of P650.8 billion last year, or nearly 20 percent higher than the previous high of P545-billion recorded in 2002. – Ted Torres