BPI Wealth rides increasing consumer affluence

The private wealth unit of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) wants to grow its client base to potentially more than 8,000 people by next year after seeing growth in the country’s affluent sector.
BPI Wealth president and CEO Maria Theresa Marcial told reporters on Thursday that they were looking at adding up to 1,000 clients annually to the BPI Private Wealth network.
BPI Private Wealth—whose customers include high-net worth ($1 million to less than $5 million in assets), very high-net worth (between $5 million and $30 million) and ultra high-net worth individuals (at least $30 million)—currently has more than 6,000 clients. This is expected to reach 7,000 by the end of this year.
“It could be higher in succeeding years because we constantly update our market studies, and we’re seeing that the growth is steeper … our goal is to gain market share,” Marcial said during a press conference.
According to the CEO, BPI Wealth currently has a 20- to 21-percent market share in the total trust industry.
“The market is growing so all the other players will continue to grow … we’re doing what we’re able to touch more customer segments,” Marcial said.
BPI Wealth currently has 1.3 million customers out of the entire BPI Group’s 18 million.
As of end-June, the entire asset and wealth management segment of BPI had P1.9 trillion in assets under management.
Marcial noted they were reviewing their strategy and targets for 2030 as BPI approaches the tail-end of its five-year plan ending in 2026, its 175th year.
BPI Wealth has launched the second year of its Wealth Wellness Program.