Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is opening an office in Singapore in October to serve high-net-worth Filipino clients who want to invest overseas.
In an interview, BPI President Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco said, “We're opening an office to serve Filipino clients in the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region and Filipino clients who want investments overseas that we can house in Singapore.”
The BPI Wealth Singapore office, located at Marina Bay Financial Center, will cater to “Filipino clients, whether they're based in Singapore or in the region, or [in the Philippines] who just want alternative investments that are housed outside the country.”
He noted that BPI already has an office in Hong Kong as well as a London office for clients in Europe. He said the Singapore office will serve Filipinos with very high and ultra high net worth with investments starting at $2 million.
Limcaoco said BPI has already been granted a license to open an office in Singapore two years after they applied for it. He said, “We're building the office. We hope to inaugurate the office in the next month or two. It will complement our Hong Kong office.”
BPI Wealth President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maria Theresa Marcial said that BPI Wealth Hong Kong has a staff of about 35 to 40, since it is a full-fledged operation with remittance services, while BPI Wealth Singapore will start with a smaller team.
BPI Wealth in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore are all separate corporate entities which are subsidiaries of BPI and are chaired by Limcaoco.