amando m. tetangco, jr : recognizing success and managing black swans, elephants in the room and grey rhinos speech by mr amando m. tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the fmap 2016 awards and fellowship night, makati city, 21 july 2016. * * * i am pleased to join you tonight as we recognize those whom the industry has chosen as the best in 15 award categories. to the awardees, allow me to extend my early congratulations for a job well done. i know that being “ recognized by peers ” is one of the strongest motivations for anyone to be the best that he can be at his chosen craft. so, keep up the good work! tonight ’ s celebration is also about the fund management industry itself, which has grown consistently over the years. if we count only the trust institutions that report to the bsp, assets under management as of end march 2016 stood at p2. 7t. fmap estimates that if the other asset management companies are included, this figure will grow to almost p4t, covering 174 peso - denominated fixed income and equity funds and 52 foreign denominated funds. the bsp expects these numbers would continue to grow moving forward. the philippines ’ strong economic growth nestled by a stable inflation environment, robust external liquidity position, and a sound banking system, could only further boost the market ’ s confidence in our domestic financial markets. the global investors have now become more discriminating, their search for yield during this extended period of low global interest rates is balanced by the need for stability of returns. the local investor is also becoming more selective and growing in sophistication, gaining more willingness to try newer products to meet specific needs. with this operating framework, the fmap and its members must certainly evolve with the changing needs of your constituents. it was “ uncle ben ” ( ben parker, the step - uncle of spiderman ) who said that “ with great power come great responsibility ”. i cannot think of a greater responsibility for a market practitioner than to be entrusted with managing the hard - earned funds of others. funds that will allow your clients to raise and educate their kids, buy their dream home, care for aging parents, go on that much awaited vacation or save for a stress - free retirement. there are many issues that we could discuss at length with respect

! just to be sure, let me ask you : nag - level up na ba tayo? tama! in other words, ladies and gentlemen, we at the bsp remain faithful to the continuous improvement process. this is as it should be. as a wise person once said, the path to excellence has no finish line. the moment we become complacent the moment we stop trying to improve ourselves is the moment when we start deteriorating. as the institution mandated to provide stability to our economy through appropriate monetary and banking policies, we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas have the responsibility to make sure we render excellent work, at all times. this means we have to be prepared to work well in all types of operating environment in good times and in bad. we have to retool and reinvent the way we do things as we work in a constantly changing and challenging surroundings. in this connection, let us acknowledge the members of the monetary board. they have been supportive of our continuing efforts to enhance employee performance through various incentives and employee development programs. palakpakan po natin sila. this is the rationale that underpins our awards theme : “ embracing change, empowering people. ” and so ladies and gentlemen, let us once again commit to work together to provide excellent service to our country and our people. let this be our unifying goal! bspers, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat! mabuhay ang bangko sentral! mabuhay ang pilipinas!