FZA: Man of the Hour

He’s called the “Duke of Makati” but Fernando Zobel de Ayala, president and COO of Ayala Corp., actually oversees diverse businesses far beyond the country’s financial business district. And with the unparalleled success of the country’s oldest and leading conglomerate, it is no wonder that Zobel is this year’s Management Association of the Philippines “Management Man of the Year (MAP).” With the accolade, Zobel joins a long roster of individuals in the business community or government who have attained unquestioned distinction in the practice of management and for contributing to the country’s progress.

Zobel, the second son of Ayala family patriarch Don Jaime, was chosen for “helping steer the Ayala Group to being consistently ranked by the global investor community as among the best in the Philippines for management excellence, corporate governance, sustainability and people management.”

Asked about his role as president and COO of Ayala, Zobel said he focuses on four key areas.

“Ayala Corp. has a fairly diverse portfolio of investments. Some of these investments have strategic partners and are listed and others are still held privately within Ayala. I spend most of my time working on four areas. One would be monitoring the overall strategy for Ayala and the Ayala group of companies. This is done through regular meetings with the CEOs as well as through the board meetings,” he tells The Philippine STAR.

Together with his brother Jaime Augusto or JAZA as he is fondly called, Fernando sits on the boards of all major subsidiaries.

Another focus, Fernando says, is the resource allocation for either existing businesses that need additional capital or new businesses with high growth potential.

“The third involves recruiting the best possible talent, evaluating senior management and ensuring that there is proper succession in place at all the Ayala group companies,” he notes.

Last but not least is the focus on existing and future partnerships locally and internationally.

As chairman of Ayala Land Inc., Zobel was also recognized by the MAP for “nurturing the strategic transformation of Ayala Land by improving the commercial and residential landscape of several areas all over the country, and by being a solid proponent of providing greater access to affordable housing to help augment the country’s housing backlog.”

But Fernando always likes to say that running Ayala is a teamwork with his brother Jaime, the chairman and CEO.

“Jaime and I work very closely…Our offices are across from each other and we brief each other regularly about what we are doing in different parts of the group. We split leadership of the different businesses. I sit as chair of the board of Ayala Land, Manila Water, AC Energy and AC Health while Jaime sits as vice chair in these companies. Jaime chairs the boards of Ayala Corporation, BPI, Globe, and AC Industrials with myself sitting as vice chair,” Fernando explains.

Together, they also co-chair the Ayala Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm.

“We have outstanding executives in each of the business units. Notwithstanding the fact that we take the lead in different businesses, we always discuss major decisions and reach a consensus,” he says.

But Fernando says that they have also empowered their chief executives to manage these businesses on a day-to-day basis with very little interference.

“We take a meritocratic approach to management and let leadership flourish from within. This kind of environment has helped us attract the best professional managers and leaders. Decisionmaking is not confined to family members but is spread and vetted with a broad management team. We are, of course, very involved in the broader governance of the companies and in major strategic, financial, and management recruitment decisions,” he says.

Thus as a business leader, Fernando said that he and brother JAZA believe in delegating and empowering their executives.

“Jaime and I have tried to create an environment in Ayala that can attract the best possible managerial talent. We empower these executives and give them the full authority to run the day-to-day operations of the companies with little interference. We give our opinion when we feel strongly about something, but in general, our involvement is through the board as well as regular interaction with the executives on both formal and informal occasions. We are strong believers in delegating and empowering our leaders once the overall strategy and resource allocation has been decided. We also believe in teamwork and collaboration. We insist on a work environment of decency and respect. While we set high standards, we ensure that all our employees are treated with respect,” he says.

Outside the business, Fernando is also active in non-government work and in the advancement of art in the country.

Thus, the MAP also recognized his active participation in nongovernment organizations and in the arts.

“He was chosen… for his support and leadership in nationbuilding organizations, such as Centex (Education), Habitat for Humanity (Housing), HERO Foundation (Fallen Soldiers), Caritas (Church), Asia Society (Culture), and National Museum of the Philippines (Arts),” the MAP says.

On this, Fernando says, “the work of the Ayala Foundation in the fields of education, art and culture, youth leadership and livelihood continues.”

“What has changed in Ayala was in recent years, we have increasingly integrated societal needs into the core of our strategy and business models,” he said.

Toward this end, Ayala has developed business models that provide greater accessibility, affordability and quality to basic services to a much larger segment of the population.

“Making social impact part and parcel of our strategy would ensure the sustainability of the business and can therefore have much larger scale and reach more people,” he says.

Fernando continues to be involved in Habitat for Humanity, an institution that has had an enormous impact on housing for the poor locally and globally.

Their regional headquarters and one of their largest national programs is in the Philippines.

Art is Fernando’s second great love, next to his lovely wife, Kit, and his children.

“As you know I am also very interested in the field of art. Aside from being major supporters of the yearly Art Fair Philippines we are planning a significant renovation of the Ayala Museum with many exciting new features, and we are in the early stages of planning a center for contemporary art,” he says with pride.

In all, MAP noted Fernando’s invaluable contribution to re-shaping national values through his track record of integrity, professional competence and strong leadership.

His brother Jaime who received the same award in 2006, said Fernando’s award is well-deserved.

“I am absolutely delighted to hear that Fernando was awarded the Management Man of the Year Award. For both his contributions to his many responsibilities in Ayala and for the many contributions in the nonprofit world, the award is richly deserved. I am very happy for him,” the elder Zobel says.

The conferment of the award followed a thorough, stringent selection process. The distinction of “MAP Management Man of the Year” has only been conferred 42 times in the five-decade history of the award.

The “MAP Management Man of the Year” awardees are Washington Z. SyCip (1967), Geronimo Z. Velasco (1977), Henry A. Brimo (1978), Jose M. Soriano (1979), Cesar E.A. Virata (1981), Jaime V. Ongpin and Vicente T. Paterno (1982), Dante G. Santos (1983), Cesar A. Buenaventura and Roberto T. Villanueva (1985), Jaime Zobel de Ayala (1987), Ramon V. del Rosario, Sr. (1988), Jose B. Fernandez, Jr. (1989), Raul T. Concepcion (1990), Oscar J. Hilado (1991), Alfonso T. Yuchengco (1992), Juan B. Santos (1994), David M. Consunji and Rizalino S. Navarro (1996), Gabriel C. Singson (1998), Delfin L. Lazaro and Henry Sy, Sr. (1999), Oscar M. Lopez (2000), Tony Tan Caktiong (2002), Jesus P. Tambunting (2003), Rafael B. Buenaventura (2004), Manuel V. Pangilinan (2005), George S. K. Ty and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (2006), Jose L. Cuisia Jr. (2007), Antonino T. Aquino and Jesus P. Estanislao (2009), Lilia B. de Lima and Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr. (2010), Erramon Aboitiz (2011), Aurelio R. Montinola III (2012), Edgar O. Chua (2013), Albert F. del Rosario (2014), Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. (2015), Teresita Sy-Coson (2016) and John L. Gokongwei, Jr. (2017).

Today (December 11), Fernando formally joins this select group of great individuals.

Indeed, the Duke of Makati — as The Philippine

STAR columnist Rose Fres Fausto dubbed him in one of her articles — is no doubt a great addition to this esteemed roster.

But his dukedom certainly goes far beyond the city. The conglomerate continues to expand throughout the archipelago and Ayala’s dapper Duke no doubt plays a huge role in its success.