Country awards: why they won, part two

In May, FinanceAsia named the winners of its Country Banking Achievement Awards for domestic banking in countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Lists of winners are here, here and here.

The competition was extremely tight this year, with numerous financial institutions proving their resilience in a difficult regulatory and banking environment.

Here, we explain in detail the rationale behind the - often very difficult - decisions that our team of judges came to in the awards for  India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan and the Philippines. For decisions from Bangladesh, China and Hong Kong, click here. The remainder of the decisions will be explained on the website tomorrow.

India

BEST BANK: ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank, India’s largest private-sector bank, stands apart from major rivals such as HDFC Bank and Axis Bank thanks to its strong lending growth, capital buffers and adoption of technology.

Headquartered in Mumbai, ICICI Bank is one of India’s largest financial conglomerates, with $107 billion in assets including $63 billion in loans for the fiscal year that ended in March. It has a reputation for innovation, using advanced technology to make banking more accessible and affordable to ordinary Indians.

Ultimately, the lender bags the best bank award because all the standard metrics underline the strength of its performance during the latest financial year. Net interest income, or revenue from lending minus payments on deposits, rose 6% year on year to Rs54 billion ($807 million) in March, driven by assets growth of 12%.

Growth in retail loans, which represent 47% of its overall loan portfolio, rose 23% year on year to Rs2.0 trillion in March, while lending to large companies rose 7.2% to $1.2 trillion the same period,  as the bank turned its attention from large corporations to small- to medium-sized enterprises.

ICICI Bank also has the smallest exposure to non-performing loans in the country’s bloated steel sector among its banking peers, according to a Credit Suisse report in May.

Indonesia

BEST BANK: Bank Central Asia

In boom times, aggression is rewarded. The companies that do well are hungry to expand. The banks that do well are hungry to lend to them. But when economies become shaky, when investor confidence is sapped, and when borrowers struggle to repay loans, cautious players start to stand out from the crowd. That is just what happened in Indonesia’s banking system during our awards period.

Bank Central Asia took a more careful approach than many of its rivals when times were good. The bank has long made clear that it does not see the benefits in lending on a large-scale to state-owned enterprises, said a bank analyst in Jakarta. Instead, it has focused on smaller sources of business: consumer banking and loans to private companies, including small-and-medium enterprises.

That meant BCA missed out on some of the opportunities that developed after the global financial crisis as SOEs grew hungry for capital. But the bank’s cautious approach now appears prescient as Indonesia’s economy grew far less than the government expected last year and most of the country’s banks saw their non-performing loans rise as a result.

BCA’s NPL exposure is well below its rivals. The bank had a gross NPL ratio of 0.70% at the end of 2015, according to a CreditSights report released in April. Indonesia’s other big banks all had NPL ratios above 2%; in Bank Niaga’s case, NPLs were 3.74%.

BCA's ability to identify high-quality assets has been applauded by analysts, not just for its rarity but also for its consistency. BCA's emphasis on high-quality assets — and a strong transaction business — meant it outperformed its rivals last year, boosting profits by 9.3%. This profit growth made it “the clear outlier”, according to CreditSights analysts.

The bank's prudent approach extends to its branch network. BCA had 14,495 branches at the end of 2015, down from 15,200 at the end of 2013. But this does not represent a pullback; the bank has simply moved to a more efficient model, expanding its ATM network and steadily growing its internet and mobile banking volumes.

Smaller clients do not always offer the biggest, most eye-catching lending opportunities, but they do allow a bank the chance to flex its muscles when it comes to credit approvals. That is clearly BCA's strength — and as a result, the bank deserves recognition as the best in show.

BEST INVESTMENT BANK, BEST ECM HOUSE, BEST DCM HOUSE, BEST BROKER: Mandiri Sekuritas

Indonesian dealmakers face a remarkably competitive environment. The securities arms of state-owned banks fight hard for business with a handful of independent firms. Foreign banks, long a major force in the country, try their best to win a mix of domestic and cross-border business, pointing to their strong distribution platforms and their long advisory experience.

There are no easy deals to win, and mandates often have to be shared with a large group.

That makes Mandiri Sekuritas's achievements during our awards period all the more impressive. As increased nervousness among investors and issuers made deals harder to bring to market, the firm managed to stand out from the crowd.

Mandiri's equity capital markets team was particularly impressive. The fall in Indonesian share prices in the second half of the year presented clear challenges for domestic firms trying to generate business.

Foreign banks, perhaps seen as a safer bet in a difficult environment, ended up occupying four of the top-five league table slots during our awards period, according to Dealogic.  But Mandiri Sekuritas stood above them all, working on four deals worth an apportioned value of $507 million.

Mandiri worked on three of those deals with its domestic rivals. But it was the only domestic bank to win a slot on the biggest ECM deal in the country last year: Philip Morris's sale of a Rp20.3 trillion ($1.4 billion) stake in cigarette maker Sampoerna. Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan were the other bookrunners.

There was more competition for the best DCM award. Danareksa, always a strong candidate, generated more volume than its rivals last year, raising an apportioned $521 million from 11 deals, according to Dealogic. But Mandiri worked on many more transactions: the $435 million it raised for its clients was spread between 17 different bonds. 

The ability to pull-off a large number of smaller deals becomes more crucial when investors and corporate executives are feeling jittery. Funding plans are downgraded, expansion plans may be put on hold — but a base level of funding remains essential.

Mandiri Sekuritas can point to a wide variety of such deals during our awards period, including a Rp500 billion subordinated bond for Bank Jateng, a Rp1.5 trillion sukuk for XL Axiata, and a Rp600 billion mix of conventional and Islamic bonds for Bank Nagari.

Mandiri is still not a major player in mergers and acquisitions. Indonesian companies overwhelming turn to foreign banks for advisory roles on the bigger deals, in large part because these are often cross-border transactions. But Mandiri has been growing its advisory business: it advised on around 50% more deals in 2015 than it did in 2014.

The combination of strong ECM and DCM businesses and a growing presence in M&A is making Mandiri Sekuritas a force to be reckoned with in the local markets. No other bank did as much to win recognition as the best investment bank during our awards period.

On the brokerage side, the firm benefited from its close relationship with state-owned Bank Mandiri. Some 255 branches of Bank Mandiri and Mandiri Prioritas, which focuses on key accounts, have entered into a programme referring retail clients to the brokerage. That has clearly helped to drive business.

Mandiri Sekuritas's brokerage arm had 49,000 accounts at the end of 2015, up from 38,000 in 2014 and 22,000 in 2013. That has enabled the firm to tussle with the foreign banks when it comes to trading volumes, something that few of its rivals can do.

This effort needs to be supplemented, of course, by a strong research effort. To that end, Mandiri Sekuritas can boast a wide breadth. The firm covers 78 listed companies in Indonesia, representing around 72% of the Jakarta Stock Exchange. 

For more winners, see page two

Korea

BEST BANK: Busan Bank

In a year when Korea struggled from slower economic growth and consecutive months of falling exports, Busan Bank was able to maintain asset growth while keeping non-performing loans in check.

According to Korea’s Financial Statistics Information System, the lender’s total assets grew by 10.24% year-on-year to W101 trillion ($85 billion) in 2015. It was the first time a regional bank reached the W100 trillion mark.

The bank achieved average asset growth of 9.34% over the last three years, far higher than the average 4.55% for other domestic banks.

Similar to other regional banks, lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises has been the key income source for Busan Bank. New SME loans increased by 6.6% to W21 trillion last year, accounting for nearly 60% of the lender’s total loans.

Busan Bank could potentially leverage on the branch network of Kyongnam Bank to further expand its business in the very south of the country after parent BNK Financial completed its acquisition of the bank last year.  The banking group now covers the entire southeastern region of Korea including Kyongnam province as well as Busan and Ulsan.

BEST INVESTMENT BANK/BEST ECM HOUSE: NH Investment & Securities

NH Investment & Securities is FinanceAsia’s Best Investment Bank in Korea this year due to its leading positions in M&A advisory as well as equity and debt capital markets.

Formerly Woori Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities has managed to advise in three mergers or acquisitions totalling $748 million during the award period, an outstanding achievement considering that the M&A business is typically dominated by foreign banks.

NH Investment & Securities was also part of the W4 trillion ($3.4 trillion) loan syndication for MBK Partners’s $6.4 billion purchase of Homeplus. The transaction was FinanceAsia’s Deal of the Year in 2015.

During the period, NH Investment & Securities ranked second among all local banks in the M&A league table, trailing only the government-backed Korea Development Bank, according to Dealogic.

NH Investment & Securities is also FinanceAsia’s pick for Korea’s Best ECM House. During the period it was involved in a number of high-profile domestic initial public offerings including LIG Nex1’s W524 billion ($444 million) and Jeju Air’s $139 million listings.

It was also the sole local agency for a number of internationally marketed block trades.

In January it partnered with JP Morgan in Hanwha Techwin’s $235 million selldown in Korea Aerospace Industries. In the same month it teamed up with Citigroup to sell $100 million worth of shares in LIG Nex1 on behalf of private equity firm STIC Investments.

BEST DCM HOUSE: KB Investment Securities

KB Investment Securities led the Korean league table for debt capital markets with 457 deals totalling $13 billion during the award period, according to data from Dealogic.

It had a 9.5% share of the market, Dealogic data shows, underscoring the firm’s capabilities in  helping clients raise debt funding.

That success is partly attributable to the firm’s financial backing from KB Financial Group, Korea’s largest financial group by assets. The company was able to leverage off its parent’s strong balance sheet and lending relationships to win corporate bond mandates.

During the period KB Investment Securities was a joint lead manager for POSCO’s W350 billion unsecured bond and Lotte Chemical’s W340 billion three-year bonds. It was also sole arranger for Hyundai Securities’s W250 million three-year bullet deal.

Malaysia

BEST BANK, BEST INVESTMENT BANK, BEST DCM HOUSE: CIMB

CIMB, the nation’s second-largest lender by assets, sealed its position as FinanceAsia’s top Malaysian bank with another strong all-round performance.

The company’s ability to source deals that bring a new type of issuer into the Islamic bond market and help Malaysian companies acquire overseas assets are important elements that set it apart from the competition.

Following three years of robust growth, Malaysia’s economy experienced a significant slowdown last year. Besides the lingering scandal surrounding the country’s state-owned fund 1MDB, the dramatic decline in oil prices, sharp currency depreciation and the introduction of a goods and services tax have weighted heavily on the country’s economy. Those factors unsettled foreign and domestic investors, leading to worries about prospect for the oil-rich country.

Despite these challenges, CIMB has been unrivalled in domestic bond markets for the last decade, cementing its top position in league tables and accounting for 28.9% of market share with $7.4 billion worth of bond issuance during the review period, according to Dealogic.

Meanwhile CIMB led and marketed the five largest ringgit-denominated bond sales, including Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s $2.1 billion of Islamic bonds and a $750 million global sukuk issuance from the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Both deals were groundbreaking transactions in their own right: Tenaga, the largest electric utility company in Malaysia, sold the debt in 36 tranches to fund its purchase of debt-laden 1MDB’s majority stake in a power plant project, while Khazanah was bringing its first straight dollar sukuk.

The bank continues to promote the growth of the Islamic capital market in Malaysia, attracting interesting from supranational issuers such as International Financial Corporation and the World Bank, as well as regional borrowers from countries such as China and Japan.

In December, Chinese property developer Country Garden issued a MYR 115 million ($8 million) bond to fund its local operations, the first mainland corporate issuer of Islamic bonds.

Landmark M&A transactions during the review period included two outbound acquisitions by Axiata. In December, Malaysia’s largest mobile operator by market value bought an 80% stake in Nepalese phone carrier Ncell in a $1.4 billion all-cash transaction.

With the purchase, Axiata added to its telecommunications operations across Asia, which stretch from Malaysia and Indonesia to India, Singapore and Cambodia.

In January, Axiata said it planned to merge its Robin Axiata unit with Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel’s Bangladeshi operation to strengthen its position in the country’s mobile internet market. The proposed merger is valued at $463 million.

CIMB is an advisor to Axiata on both transactions.

As for ECM, the bank captured the top position in Dealogic’s equities league table for the awards period, issuing $346 million worth of shares in 14 transactions. It participated in four of Malaysia's 10 largest ECM transactions last year, including two IPOs and two block deals.

CIMB advised on Red Sena’s $100 million IPO last year, making it the first special purpose acquisition company in the country's food and beverage sector. The bank explained that the special-purpose company had no operations or income at the point of IPO, but undertook to use the proceeds to acquire operating companies or assets.

BEST ECM HOUSE, BEST BROKER: Maybank

Maybank, the country's largest bank by assets, scoops FinanceAsia’s Best ECM and Best Broker awards  thanks to its strong origination and execution capacity in the country’s stock market.

One primary example was its positions in both Malakoff’s long-planned IPO in May and a $103 million block deal from Malakoff’s cornerstone investors in late November.

Including the greenshoe option, Malakoff Corporation Berhad, Malaysia's biggest independent power producer, raised $867 million in a share sale priced at the top end of the indicative range after receiving strong support from domestic institutional investor. The Malakoff IPO was the largest listing in Malaysia since October 2012.

The bank suggested that one of the key success factors in the IPO was Malakoff's high dividend yield, which makes it one of Malaysia’s more defensive stocks. At the IPO price, the company offers a 4.6% dividend yield based on a 70% payout ratio, more than double the 2.1% offered by state-owned power producer Tenaga.

The shares were largely flat in the secondary market. In the first five months of 2016, Malakoff shares were up 1%, compared with a 3.3% decrease in the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index.

Maybank was the transaction manager and joint global co-ordinator of the Malakoff IPO.

For the block deal in November, the bank was able to gather more demand than its other domestic and international rivals, covering more than 80% of the entire book ahead of the official launch. After feedback from investors, the two cornerstone investors offered their shares at a discount of 3% to 4.8%, representing a dividend yield of 5% to 5.1% based on 2016 forecast earnings.

Long-only investors were the major buyers of the share placement, making up 92% of the entire deal as they sought safe-haven assets. Through the placement of secondary shares, Blackrock and Eastspring Investments, the asset management arm of Prudential, became two of the largest shareholders in Malakoff, with stakes of 0.39% and 0.32% according to data provided by Maybank.

Myanmar

BEST BANK: Kanbawza Bank

This is the first year in which Myanmar has been part of the awards process and its inclusion reflects the huge changes taking place in the country after it started opening up to the outside world in 2014.

Kanbawza Bank (KBZ) is a clear winner among the country’s banks. It is Myanmar’s largest bank by assets and controls 40% of the country’s deposit base.

As such, the agriculture-to-airlines conglomerate has been at the vanguard of efforts to develop financial services in a country where only 5% to 10% of the population are estimated to have a bank account.

Financial inclusion is a top government priority and to facilitate it the government is also rolling out a national telecommunications infrastructure. In 2014, for example, the country only had a mobile penetration rate of 20%, which does not make mobile financial services a viable option.

Between 2013 and 2014, KBZ almost doubled its asset base from $2.8 billion to $4.3 billion, according to the most recently available information compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Loans also increased from $1.7 billion to $2.5 billion and deposits from $2.5 billion to $3.8 billion.

This fast expansion has been reflected in the growth of its own employee base. Whereas the rest of Asia is going in the other direction as greater automation kicks in, Myanmar is still struggling to hire enough qualified staff. Between 2012 and 2016 KBZ’s staff numbers jumped from 5,000 to 13,000.

The bank struck a number of firsts last year. It launched its first credit card last June, the same day it launched its online and mobile banking platforms.

In order to jump more quickly up the technological ladder the government has also allowed a number of foreign banks into Myanmar, many of them Japanese. KBZ has forged a strategic partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui, while its closest rival Co-operative Bank (CB Bank) has linked up with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ.

The government also awarded KBZ the country’s first securities license and here it has formed a joint venture with Singaporean corporate finance boutique Stirling Coleman to form KBZ Stirling Coleman Securities.

The Yangon Stock Exchange began trading its first stock in late March. KBZ Stirling Coleman has said it is talking to a further half dozen or so companies about potential initial public offerings and a second listing is expected by the end of May.

KBZ wants to facilitate Myanmar’s integration into Asean as well. To this end, it became the first local bank to set up a representative office in Thailand last year and has applied to open an office in Singapore too.

PAKISTAN

BEST BANK: MCB Bank

MCB has long been Pakistan’s most efficient bank and if its proposed acquisition of NIB Bank goes through it will also start to rival the country’s largest financial institution by assets, Habib Bank.

In mid-March, MCB announced it was in discussions with Fullerton Financial, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, to acquire NIB Bank. The acquisition would give MCB the sector’s second largest branch network with 1,424 outlets and increase its deposit base by 17%.

Analysts said Temasek may retain a few seats on the board, a move that it is likely to aid MCB’s oft-stated overseas expansion plans. Pakistan’s most dynamic domestic bank is keen to expand its global footprint, particularly in India where it has applied for a license, although the oft-rumoured banking thaw between the two countries has yet to materialise.

However, over the past year it has set up its first wholesale branch in Dubai. It was also reported to be in negotiations to take over a small bank in Tanzania as a springboard into Africa and is one of two preferred bidders for Afghanistan’s New Kabul Bank.

Closer to home it de-merged its Islamic banking operations at the end of last year to enable its conventional and Islamic banking arms to flourish separately. Since Pakistan began developing Islamic banking in 2001, the sector has grown to cover 10% of system assets.

The overall environment for the Pakistani banking sector was not strong during 2015, with falling interest rates squeezing bank margins. MCB’s return on assets came under some pressure, falling from 2.86% to 2.44% in 2015. However, analysts note that MCB is more insulated than its peers because it has a strong funding profile, with current accounts and savings accounts making up 91% of total deposits in December.

The bank still commands a higher valuation than all of its peers, an accolade reflected in its more robust financial metrics. Whereas Habib Bank reported a non-performing loan ratio of 10.87% in 2015 and United Bank 9.08%, for MCB Bank it came in at 6.1%. This was also an improvement on 2014’s 6.79% ratio.

MCB had a relatively low and improving cost-to-income ratio too last year of 35.48% compared with 38.01% in 2014. Its net interest margin is also still relatively stronger at 5.14% compared with United Bank’s 4.52% and Habib Bank’s 4%.

Overall assets were up 4% year-on-year too, which is quite an achievement given the government’s clampdown on banking transactions by residents who have not filed their tax returns and the extra cash circulating around the Pakistani economy as a result.

Philippines

BEST BANK – BDO Unibank

BDO Unibank has had a long run winning this award from FinanceAsia and if anything it has only further consolidated its position over the past year.

Partly this is due to its own expansion including the acquisition of One Network Bank, which was completed July.

Partly it is due to strong macro economic fundamentals in the Philippines itself. GDP growth has averaged 6% during the past six years leadership of Benigno Acquino III.

Analysts expect loan growth to diminish during an election year but during 2015 BDO expanded its loan portfolio by 17% compared to an industry average of 13%. This also enabled the bank to expand its market share from 21% in 2014 to 22% in 2015.

Likewise, it was also able to increase its deposit share from 18% to 19% and trust assets from 32% to 36%.

Overall assets have now topped Ps2 trillion ($43.8 billion). BDO has become the first bank to achieve this level and net income also hit a record Ps25 billion in 2015, up 10% year-on-year, ahead of analysts’ expectations.

BDO may be the Philippines largest bank, but it is still expanding its geographical footprint particularly in the South. Its acquisition of the country’s largest rural bank, One Network Bank, has given it an addition 107 branches, of which 95 are in Mindanao.

The bank now has 1,028 branches across the country, opening 45 new branches in 2015, the majority of which were outside Metro Manila. This expansion has gone hand-in-hand with greater automation, which the number of ATM machines jumping 200% year-on-year.

Overseas the bank established a rep office in Beijing in December and a remittances office in Japan.

Its Japanese links were also strengthened though a tie-up with Nomura, which should help BDO to jump up broking ranks in the near future. BDO will hold 51% of the new venture and Nomura 49%.

One of the BDO’s key initiatives is to improve its fee business by expanding its insurance operations. To this end it announced an agreement with Assicurazioni Generali to take full control (from 40%) of life insurance company Generali Pilipinas Life Assurance.

Underpinning the bank’s expansion are strong financial metrics. The Filipino banking sector is not under the same Net Interest Margin (NIM) or asset quality pressure of other Asian banks.

In BDO’s case, non-performing loans fell from 1.3% to 1.2% between 2014 and 2015. Analysts say BDO also has the best coverage ratio of peers at 166%.  Its NIM, meanwhile, is a strong 3.2%.

BEST INVESTMENT BANK, BEST ECM HOUSE, BEST DCM HOUSE: BPI Capital Corp

This was a very closely fought contest across all three categories between BDO Capital & Investment Corp and BPI Capital Corp. Special mention should also go to First Metro, which had another strong year in debt capital markets.

Both BDO and BPI were on many of the same transactions as each other, which makes it even harder to untangle the two.

BDO’s very strong lending base also means it has a formidable presence in the loan and project finance sector.

One particular standout here was the Ps42.15 billion ($894 million) project financing facility for a 455MW supercritical coal-fired power plant co-owned by Meralco and Thailand’s EGCO. The 15-year deal represents the largest peso-denominated project financing facility in Philippines history.

But in the end, we decided that Ayala-led BPI pipped BDO to the post because it completed more landmark deals.

As we have mentioned in previous years, it has done a very good job at securing some of the country’s best investment banking talent and this continues to be reflected in its winning and execution of mandates, some of which have taken the Philippines capital markets in new directions.

On the debt capital markets side, notable highlights include the region’s first climate bond, the country’s largest retail bond, and the government’s massive and highly successful liability management exercise of September 2015.

The Ps12.5 billion financing for AP Renewables was not only a landmark for the Philippines but for Asia as a whole. Green financing of all different hues is likely to become increasingly important as the region tries to improve its environmental credentials.

The Aboitiz Power Corp deal ranks as the first climate bond for a single project across the whole of the emerging markets as certified by the London-based Climate Bond Initiative. BPI was sole co-ordinator for the deal, which comprised a Ps1.8 billion five-year loan from the Asian Development Bank and a Ps10.7 billion 10-year tranche to help finance the 390MW Tiwi-MakBan geothermal complex.

A second landmark deal for the Philippines was the government’s Ps263 billion ($5.58 billion) liability management exercise of September 2015. BPI and Land Bank of the Philippines were the two domestic banks selected as global co-ordinators for the exercise.

That has seen the government move away from its former heavy reliance on international debt markets and build out the country’s domestic debt markets. Now that it has a full and liquid yield curve, it can concentrate on optimising it.

After accepting tenders amounting to Ps237 billion and new subscriptions amounting to Ps9.6 billion, the government was not only able to push out its maturity curve to 2040 but also to make cost savings estimated at Ps2.4 billion in the first year alone.

Other debt deals led or co-led by BPI include a Ps24 billion three-tranche retail bond for Aboitiz Equity Ventures, the largest retail bond of the year; a Ps8 billion deal for Filinvest; a Ps20 billion deal for SM Prime; and two deals for Ayala Land raising Ps7 billion and Ps8 billion.

Right at the end of the awards period, BPI also cemented its fixed income credentials by launching an index series for peso-denominated government and corporate bonds.

On the equity capital markets side, the Philippines had another quiet year, with few initial public offerings. The largest was a Ps3.7 billion ($78.51 million) offering for Metro Retail Stores Group, which BPI co-led with Deutsche Bank.

The main focus was on preference share issues — a reflection of issuers’ reluctance to dilute their ownership in a country where a handful of families still control much of the economy.

The benchmark issuer in 2015 was San Miguel Corp, which is trying to reduce its heavy and foreign-currency denominated debt load. The group obtained approval to raise up to Ps73 billion in non-voting preference shares over a three-year period and launched a Ps33.5 billion issue in September 2015, with BPI as the joint-underwriter on the three-tranche deal.

BPI was also joint lead on Double Dragon Properties’ Ps10 billion seven-year preference share deal, which was oversubscribed five times.

In terms of mergers and acquisitions, BPI was an advisor on one of the most interesting deals of the year: the Ps38.8 billion ($832.6 million) acquisition of UK meat-free food producer Quorn Foods by Monde Nissin. One industry in which the Philippines has a global footprint is food and drink and this deal fits neatly into that theme.

A second key trend in the Philippines is its increasingly affluent middle class. Here again, BPI was at the forefront with two consumer-related M&A deals.

The first comprised the corporate and asset restructuring of the Viscal group to consolidate its retail business under MRSGI prior to its listing. The second was the sale of Adora’s department stores business to the Tantoco family-owned Rustan Group. BPI was advisor to Adora.

On its own account BPI also signed an agreement with US-based Global Payments Inc to form a joint-venture to provide merchant acquiring and payments services in the Philippines.

BEST BROKER: Maybank ATR Kim Eng

Maybank ATR Kim Eng has had a lock on this award for a number of years thanks to its strong institutional footing and reputation for independent research.

It is trying to capitalise on these strengths in the face of increased competition from the country’s leading banks, which are now trying hard to break the dominance of foreign brokers. In addition to providing expanded research, this also means bringing more non-deal roadshows.

Its institutional business has historically accounted for 90% of the total. However, following the launch of its MakeTrade platform in 2014, institutional trading now accounts for 74% of the total.

Between May 2015 and April 2016 the platform has continued to grow strongly, with a 51.6% surge in new account openings.

On the institutional side, the broker provided a number of testimonies to support its submission. One was from Michael Graciaz from the Seahedge Philippines Fund.

“They provide cutting edge insight into investment opportunities and are ahead of their peers in spotting misunderstood or overlooked stocks that eventually become market jewels,” he said. “I also like their willingness to cover stocks that aren’t always the most popular. They’re quite comfortable expressing contrarian views.”

The brokerage argues that its insight is informed by its strong presence across the Asean region. Its Philippines chairman Ramon Arnaiz says it can bring a strong Philippines perspective to the growth of Asean.

The brokerage has wide coverage capabilities spanning 52 stocks across the banking, cement, conglomerate, consumer, construction, gaming, media, ports and logistics, property, telecoms, and utility sectors.

Testament to its success is the recognition it has received from the Fund Managers Association of the Philippines. Its members voted it the best equities house and best research house in 2015. Its research head, Luz Lorenzo, was also voted as the country’s best analyst and economist.