Welcome to the maiden article in this SharePHIL column!
SharePHIL (short for Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines) is a non-profit organization conceived by members of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and fellows of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) to address the need for a strong investor organization that can serve as a catalyst to a dynamic and sustainable capital market. This organization was envisioned to educate the public by making retail investors understand the intricacies of investing in stocks and how their investment can help fuel economic activity and development. It is thought that with an enlightened investing public, more savings from disposable income would be channelled into the capital market and shareholders—whether large or small—will be more conscientious of the protection of their interests.
SharePHIL was formally organized and registered with the SEC in January of 2010, for the primary purpose of promoting and protecting shareholders’ rights. It was patterned after the Securities Investors Association for Singapore, another non-profit organization advocating for sustainable stakeholder relations, investor education and protection, as well as promoting fair and transparent corporate governance standards, regulations, and practices.
Mission, Vision, and Core Values
SharePHIL’s ten-year mission is to be a major player in promoting domestic capital market development through advocacy, education, and enlightenment of shareholders. It envisions itself to become the catalyst in the promotion of shareholders’ rights, duties, and responsibilities and the leading institution in the protection and promotion of shareholder rights, duties and responsibilities.
To achieve its mission and vision, SharePHIL embraces five core values promoting “F.A.I.T.H. to the Investor”, where FAITH stands for Fairness, Accountability, Independence, Transparency and Honor.
Board of Trustees
The founding trustees included Albert del Rosario, ex-Ambassador to the US and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the late Evangeline Escobillo, former Insurance Commissioner.
Currently, the Board of Trustees is comprised of Evelyn Singson (Chairperson), Corazon de la Paz-Bernardo (Vice-Chairperson), Francis Ed. Lim (President), Alfredo Parungao (Vice-President), Ramoncito Fernandez (Treasurer), Conrado Bate, Rosario Bernaldo, Romeo David, Eduardo Francisco, Ma. Aurora Geotina-Garcia, Tomasa Lipana, Alfredo Pascual, Benito Teehankee, Wilson Young, and Jaime Ysmael.
Membership
Membership in SharePHIL is open to individuals and corporations who share our commitment to spur investments and deepening the Philippine capital market and creating a more involved and better-informed investing public. We also encourage students to join as Learners to jumpstart their investing journey and enrich their education through financial literacy and investor education programmes.
SharePHIL has made great strides to advance the interests of the investing public and improve corporate governance in the country. So, dear reader, come and join SharePHIL! If you wish to help us create a legacy of enhancing economic development through impactful investor involvement, contact secretariat@sharephil.org.
Activities
Since its launch in 2012, SharePHIL has undertaken a number of activities for the education of shareholders, advocating for corporate governance and improvement of shareholder relations and representation.
SharePHIL also supports financial literacy and awareness by sponsoring university-based student organizations and their finance- and business-related summits, as well as inviting student members to attend SharePHIL events for free or at deeply discounted rates.
To foster collaboration in the investing community, SharePHIL provides a platform for financial regulators and other concerned organizations through speakerships at its membership meetings. In 2018, SharePHIL hosted a forum on one of the finance world’s hot topics: cryptocurrency, with the late BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla as one of the resource speakers. SharePHIL also actively participated in public hearings and provided significant inputs on the new Code of Corporate Governance of the SEC (2016) and the amendment of the Corporation Code of the Philippines (2018).
True to its mission of looking out for the welfare of minority stockholders, SharePHIL’s Shareholder Relations and Representation Committee (SRRC) members attend and observe annual shareholders’ meetings of select publicly listed companies. This observation study focuses on how to improve the conduct of meetings for the benefit of shareholders and presented to the SEC, PSE, and the companies included in the study to help generate advancements in ASMs and enhance the dialogue between companies and their stockholders.
Among its key initiatives is an annual summit that focuses on a theme relevant to investors. Among our previous summits were: Enhancing Share Value and Protecting Shareholders (Manuel Pangilinan), Transforming Philippine Corporations into Global Players (Tessie Sy-Coson), Inter-Generational Evolution of Corporate Values (Oscar and Federico Lopez), Creating and Sustaining Value Through Principled Corporate Stewardship (Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel de Ayala), and most recently, The Journey from Private Enterprise to a Public Corporation with Lorraine Belo-Cincochan of Wilcon, Alvin Lao of D&L Industries, and Jose Sio SM Investments as keynote speakers.
This coming Monday, September 9 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM, SharePHIL will hold its 2019 Summit at the Dusit Hotel on The Power of Two: How Power Couples Manage Their Stakeholders. The Summit will feature couples whose partnerships have demonstrated impactful and inclusive leadership: Rep. Mikee Romero of 1-PACMAN Party List and wife Sheila Bermudez-Romero, Chairperson of F&S Holdings, majority shareholder in Air Asia Inc. which is gearing for an IPO later this year; Christopher Po, Executive Chairman of Century Pacific Foods, a market leader in consumer goods, and wife Nanette Medved-Po, founder of Generation Hope, whose products are devoted to improving the public school education space; and former Marikina Mayors Bayani Fernando and Marides Carlos-Fernando, now House Representative of the 1st District of Marikina and President of Riverstar Food Corporation, respectively, whose years in public service saw the transformation of Marikina from a 4th-class municipality to a model Philippine city.
Join us for an afternoon of lively discussion! Learn more about their journeys and best practices; register today at http://summit2019.sharephil.org.
*** Tammy H. Lipana is a trustee of SharePHIL and past Chairman and Senior Partner of Isla Lipana & Co./PWC Philippines, an independent director of SM Investments Corporation and several other corporations.
