Bigger not always better

In his book “Bigger Isn’t Always Better,” author Robert Tomasko noted that growth does not necessarily mean getting bigger. He said that growth is moving forward, making progress, and is the ability to generate effective action and to take what is best about a business and nurturing it.

Tomasko adds that real growth is about reaching full potential, not maximum size. It means progress, not excess; it is fueled by imagination, not expansion. Security Bank Corp. may not be the biggest in terms of assets and number of physical branches and ATMs, but various institutions both here and abroad have already recognized the bank’s accomplishments.

The New-York-based Global Finance recently conferred the country’s Best Bank Award on Security Bank. Global Finance only recognizes world-class financial institutions and bankers that outperform their peers in the industry.

In the past, the award-giving body cited former BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. as one of the world’s Best Central Bank Governors.

Security Bank’s latest milestone validates what it has been building up since it rebranded in 2014. In 2018 alone, the bank (including its executives) already bagged 24 local and global awards, and the year hasn’t even ended.

The Dy-led bank’s Japanese partner MUFG Bank also did not shy away from the global spotlight, winning the Best Corporate Bank from the same award-giving body.

Security Bank continues to rank first in terms of share price among other local banks. In fact, its share price has grown over 500 percent over the last 10 years.

Its loan portfolio also continued to grow year on year at an average of 25 percent (2011-2017) with a rock-solid balance sheet.

With its Better Banking trademark, the bank continuously develops products and services.

Just this year, it launched three international investment funds: US Equity Index Fund, Global Equity Index Fund and APAC Equity Fund. These investment vehicles allow the bank’s clients to diversify their investment portfolio based on risks and return objectives and expose them to international equity markets without reaching out to foreign brokerage firms.

Earlier this year, the bank also launched a short-term personal loan facility which can be availed of via SMS in as fast as 10 minutes.

Last week, the bank also announced its partnership with Pisopay which will allow remittances from Japan to be transferred directly to Security Bank and be disbursed through the bank’s Instapay facility and eGiveCash. The bank’s eGiveCash is a feature in Security Bank Online or mobile app that allows real-time transfer of funds which can be withdrawn at any of the bank’s more than 700 ATM units.

From digital solutions designed for both traditional clients and millennials who are adept with the latest trends in technology, Security Bank is adapting to changing consumer behavior, while priding itself for its online platforms and network security.

The bank is not only taking care of its customers, but its employees as well. Security Bank has a wide-range of activities and rewards under its employee wellness program. The bank even has gym at its head office talk about work-life-balance.

Solving the housing backlog problem

Joint ventures may provide the solution to the country’s ballooning housing backlog, according to a recently released report from Pinnacle Real Estate Consulting Services.

In its report titled “Doing Business Together: Attracting Foreign Capital into the Housing Industry via Business Matching and Joint Ventures,” Pinnacle noted that joint ventures have been a staple of the Philippine real estate market for many years.

The report was presented by Pinnacle president and managing director Michael Mabutol at the 27th SHDA National Developers Convention.

It cited the Bonifacio Global City as perhaps the best known joint venture project in the Philippines. Its developer, Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., is a joint venture among the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Ayala Land Corp. and Evergreen Holdings of the Campos Group. Other joint ventures in real estate include Cebu Property Holdings, Axis Residences in Mandaluyong (a joint venture between Robinsons Land and Federal Land), and the Grand Hyatt Residences Manila (a development of Federal Land and Japan’s Orix Corp.).

But the report pointed out that joint ventures in the low-cost and economic housing segments are something largely unexplored, save for a few initiatives in the last couple of years. This, it said, is unfortunate, as these segments are largely underserved.

Pinnacle cited data from HUDCC which said that as of Dec. 31, 2016, the country’s housing backlog is already at two million dwelling units, primarily affecting the socialized and economic housing segment. This number will then balloon to about 6.8 million shelters by 2022.

Attracting joint venture capitalists to the housing industry, according to Pinnacle, can be achieved by sustaining strong macro-economic fundamentals; keeping a robust real estate market (a strong demand across all housing sectors show a healthy real estate market that capitalists can take advantage in the coming years to come); and improving the country’s regulatory framework (by increasing the housing budget and the current socialized housing ceiling of P450,000, institutionalizing tax holidays and swift processing of tax exemptions, passage of housing bills including the formation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, the National Land Use Act, and the amended Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Finance Act, strengthening of local housing boards, rationalized creditable withholding tax rates, passage of the Trabaho bill, preparation and continuous review of land use plans, among others).

The report highlighted the reduced budget of key shelter agencies this year, by as much as 63 percent. The National Housing Authority’s budget was reduced from P12.6 billion in 2017 to only P3.2 billion in 2018. Around 79 percent of NHA’s budget goes to housing projects intended for the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, while the rest is allocated for various resettlement programs involving informal settler families.

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