Nelson Morales

Article (news)

How do the wealthy get wealthier?

Salve Ibaňez

ABS-CBN News

If you had one billion extra pesos lying around, where would you put it in 2026?Believe it or not, this is a question those in the private banking and wealth management business are currently fielding from the ultra high net-worth client base — currently a growing segment of Filipino investors composed of third or fourth generation businessmen who are slowly starting to take over the business from their parents or grandparents.The handover isn&#x27;t always smooth. Picture the family board meeting where the 75-year-old patriarch who built his empire on conservative real estate, watches his Wharton-educated daughter propose allocating family funds to impact investing and cryptocurrency. The tension isn&#x27;t hostile—it&#x27;s educational, but the learning curve? That’s steep on both sides.I found it fascinating that their numbers are growing, sparking an evolution in the wealth management or private banking business in the Philippines. And while the middle class keeps ranting about poor investment returns and an anemic stock market, these inheritors are not deterred at all. They&#x27;re quietly rewriting the rules of Filipino wealth.Jacqueline Grace B. Wieneke, RCBC&#x27;s Group Head of Wealth Management, affirmed this picture of transformation that is quietly brewing.<div>FROM OLD WEALTH TO NEW THINKING</div>&quot;The next generations are wealth builders of their own, building their own businesses,&quot; Wieneke observed, describing what RCBC categorizes as HNIs—high-net-worth individuals with at least P60 million in investable funds, properties excluded. These aren&#x27;t passive inheritors waiting for family patriarchs to hand over the keys. They&#x27;re educated, globally exposed, and possess risk appetites that would make their more conservative forebears lose sleep.Unlike the founding generation that built empires through grit and conservative reinvestment, today&#x27;s wealth inheritors are sophisticated global citizens. They&#x27;re comfortable with alternative investments, drawn to impact investing, and expect their wealth managers to understand sustainability metrics as fluently as traditional financial ratios. And yes, Jackie said their flex doesn&#x27;t involve Rolex or Pateks on their wrists. Their ultimate flex is walking into a business meeting with not a single loud brand on them at all—the kind of quiet confidence that screams old money even when it&#x27;s actually new thinking.<div>PARKING IN SINGAPORE?</div>Another telling trend is the overseas diversification drive among these inheritors. BPI Wealth&#x27;s October 2025 opening of its Singapore office at Marina Bay Financial Centre wasn&#x27;t just corporate expansion—it was a strategic response to client demand for seamless global access. The move reflects a sophisticated Filipino wealth management landscape where domestic success now demands international sophistication.&quot;We call it beyond banking,&quot; Maria Theresa &quot;Tere&quot; Marcial, BPI Wealth Deputy Chairman, told me during a press launch. The woman who&#x27;s spearheading BPI&#x27;s aggressive expansion—targeting P3 trillion in assets under management by 2026 and an 8,000 client base for private banking—understands that today&#x27;s Filipino ultra-wealthy don&#x27;t just want investment products. They want ecosystems that can handle everything from cross-border transactions to succession planning with equal finesse.Honestly, I see the opening of BPI Wealth Singapore office as a major development to watch. BPI Wealth CEO for Singapore Christmas Sevilla oversees operations designed to serve not just the estimated 200,000 Filipinos in Singapore (60 percent of whom are professionals and skilled workers), but the growing cohort of Filipino families seeking regional diversification. The timing couldn&#x27;t be more strategic, as the Philippines now hosts approximately 69,000 high-net-worth individuals and 1.4 million emerging HNWIs, according to the Private Wealth Migration Report 2025.Just imagine: 69,000 families quietly revolutionizing how Filipino wealth works, leaving traditional fund managers scrambling to understand clients who care more about carbon footprints than dividend yields alone. They represent a tectonic shift that&#x27;s reshaping not just investment portfolios, but the entire infrastructure of Philippine wealth management.<div>SUPPORTING STARTUPS</div>For example, the venture capital bug has officially bitten the Filipino billionaire class. Where once they&#x27;d park surplus funds in time deposits or real estate, today&#x27;s tycoons are playing angel investor to founders audacious enough to claim they&#x27;ve cracked solutions to humanity&#x27;s most pressing challenges. The funding may have tightened internationally—Silicon Valley&#x27;s money spigot isn&#x27;t gushing like it used to—but local billionaires are stepping into the breach, albeit with characteristically cautious Filipino prudence.The playground has expanded beyond traditional sectors. Energy renewables aren&#x27;t just feel-good investments anymore; they&#x27;re generating actual returns as the country races toward its sustainability commitments. Artificial intelligence applications in finance are catching attention—particularly tools that can streamline the bureaucratic nightmares that still plague doing business here. Even biotechnology and pharmaceutical ventures are attracting capital, especially those addressing tropical diseases that Western pharma companies ignore.Then there&#x27;s the land banking phenomenon spreading beyond Metro Manila&#x27;s concrete embrace. Conversations now casually drop references to prime parcels in Iloilo, Bukidnon, even—in hushed, knowing tones—Basilan. The calculus is simple: acquire quality land in emerging growth corridors before infrastructure projects transform them into the next Bonifacio Global City.The generational shift is equally fascinating—and occasionally uncomfortable for both sides.For both BPI and RCBC, succession planning has evolved into their most critical market opportunity. As the Great Wealth Transfer accelerates—with an estimated $3 trillion expected to change hands across Asia-Pacific by 2030—Filipino wealth management institutions are positioning themselves not just as custodians, but as architects of multi-generational prosperity.The question is: will traditional institutions adapt quickly enough? While forward-thinking players like BPI and RCBC are investing heavily in global platforms and next-generation advisory services, others are still operating as if Filipino wealth management is primarily about managing local real estate and blue-chip stock portfolios. Those firms may find themselves managing shrinking assets as clients quietly migrate to providers who understand that the future of Filipino wealth is global, sustainable, and decidedly more complex than their fathers ever imagined.Until next week, keep your ears open and your portfolios diversified.<div>Boardroom Tea comes out every Wednesday.</div>

If you had one billion extra pesos lying around, where would you put it in 2026? Today's Filipino ultra-wealthy don't just want investment products.

If you had one billion extra pesos lying around, where would you put it in 2026? Today's Filipino ultra-wealthy don't just want investment products.

Boardroom Tea: How do the wealthy get wealthier?

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Boardroom Tea: How do the wealthy get wealthier?

Salve Ibaňez,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 28, 2026 10:00 PM PHT

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Updated February 02, 2026 12:09 PM PHT

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Boardroom Tea

personal finance

wealth management

billionaires

ultra wealthy

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