Nestor Tan strengthened BDO Unibank’s leading wealth management and digital capabilities in the Philippines

The Leadership Achievement Award for Best CEO is conferred every three years to ensure that heads of banks in each country can be reviewed over a meaningful period of time. Bank CEOs are assessed based on a rigorous and transparent set of evaluation criteria and the winner in each country is selected by an international council of advisors from among a shortlist of peers in the country.

The council of advisors for The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement programme lauded the exemplary leadership of BDO Unibank’s president and CEO, Nestor V. Tan, for leading the bank to become a formidable industry leader and achieving success in key initiatives covering wealth management, underserved customer segments and digital investments during the period under review

Under his leadership, the bank established BDO Prime in December 2019 as the investment relationship unit focusing on the mass affluent segment to provide customers a single point of contact for investment requirements, portfolio advisory, access to a wide range of securities, and consolidated reporting.

In a span of two years since its inception, the initiatives to promote BDO Prime received positive response that led to the onboarding of over 5,000 clients and significant increase in assets under management (AUM) by over $3.7 billion (PHP200 billion).

He also put emphasis on financial inclusion initiatives, which are largely carried out by the bank’s rural banking arm, BDO Network Bank (BDO NB). Over the last two years, BDO NB expanded its branch network by 23% on the average, bringing total branch network to 243 in 2021 from 172 in 2019. The bank witnessed an 84% expansion in deposits with total deposit accounts hitting over 1 million in 2021 from 0.8 million in 2019 and a 49% increase in outstanding loan levels from 2019 to 2021.

In the area of digital investment, the bank completed its next generation IT transformation programme in April 2021 and has built and updated its technology architectural foundations, transitioning to a “plug-and-play” infrastructure that is agile, scalable, secure, and resilient.

Also, he has sustained investments to build, upgrade, and strengthen the bank’s cybersecurity capabilities have resulted in better incident preparedness, quicker response, and greater pro-active action against potential cybersecurity related threats.

Under his stewardship, BDO realised the lowest funding cost among peers during the coverage period, attributed to its superior deposit franchise stemming from its extensive distribution network and reliability of digital channels.

For human capital sustainability, he has led the bank and offered a comprehensive suite of training programs to equip and develop employees for career advancement and growth, in line with the bank’s goal of building a “can lead” workforce with a sustainability mindset.

For details about evaluation criteria and council of advisors of the Leadership Achievement Award programme, visit https://www.asianbankerawards.com/leadership/

To view the photo gallery of the Leadership Achievement Award ceremony, visit https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160166616759804&type=3