Banks’ managed assets total R2.7 trillion

As of last June

The banking sector’s trust and investment management activities reached R2.718 trillion as of end-June, up 11.34 percent from the same period in 2015 of R2.441 trillion.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show the cash and due from banks including cash on hand totaled R428 billion in the first six months which was 2.28 percent lower from last year’s R438 billion.

Deposits in banks increased by 23.87 percent to R529.7 billion compared to the same period in 2015 of R427.6 billion. Financial assets also rose to R1.5 trillion from R1.345 trillion.

The banking system’s trust holdings amounted to R1.65 trillion from R1.5 trillion last year while unit investment trust funds (UITF) totaled R751 billion from R624.27 billion. Trust holdings in the pre-need sector was at R113.66 billion compared to last year’s R111.85 billion.

The big banks or the universal and commercial banks reported total assets of R2.67 trillion as of end-June – bulk of the total industry managed assets – from R2.4 trillion in the same period last year.

The BSP is supervising 41 large banks.

Earlier this year, the BSP allowed banks to offer personal trust services to its clients, replacing living trust accounts (LTAs), for individuals’ estate planning and/or asset management.

In a statement, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the decision to create personal management trusts (PMT) arose from the “clamor of the market” for such product and is “deemed very timely considering that there is a rising prevalence of oneperson household in Asia, including the Philippines.”

The PMT is seen as a more flexible tool in the management of an individual’s financial affairs, unlike the LTAs which has a strict requirement on third-party beneficiaries, he explained.

These LTAs, which will no longer be valid as these would be considered as PMTs, will be phased out.

The BSP said these changes to trusts regulations are “necessary for the development of the fiduciary business.”