The big picture

Largely because bankers handle other people’s money, it stands to reason that bankers are equally adept at handling their own personal finances. The processes involved in saving, borrowing and investing are similar although the scale is much smaller when it comes to wisely managing one’s own money.

"We were given responsibility and authority at a very early stage," said Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura, the country’s highest-ranking alumni of Citibank NA.

"They kept moving us so we were not stuck in one place. Because of the job rotations, we were forced to learn very quickly. We were expected to produce right away," said another alumni, Development Bank of the Philippines chairman Vitaliano Nanagas II.

The short learning curve and on-the-job excellence demanded every day are factors that Citibank alumni often mention as factors in their career advancement and in their wise management of their personal finances.

In the case of Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. president Norberto Nazareno, his time at Citibank taught him to think long term. "Taking a long-term subsidized housing loan stabilized my life," he said.

Citibank recently held a 100th year reunion of its current and former employees. The guest list was a who’s who in banking and in other industries.

"The advantage of working for Citibank is it gave us an opportunity to see the big banking picture," said Nanagas.

"Because of our exposures to different jobs and countries, we’ve been able to hone our skills to handle complex transactions in different cultural circumstances," said Buenaventura.

He could easily be describing his job as well as his wallet.