Did you know that the SM Group has 6 Henry Sys?

The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) recently hosted a unique and unforgettable dinner forum for the business community on Feb. 22. FFCCCII president Domingo Yap and other top officers at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel led the forum, with SM Investment Corp. (SMIC) chairman Jose “Joe” T. Sio as guest speaker and BDO Unibank’s chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas giving an impressive overview of Philippine economic prospects for 2018.

Ravelas said the Philippine economy’s fast growth will continue and can accelerate, saying that booming tourism alone will create two new jobs per one tourist, thanks to the tremendous increase of tourist arrivals from China due to the normalization of our bilateral diplomatic ties.

On the weakening Philippine peso, he explained that one big factor is the government’s unprecedented, ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, resulting in the recent surge of imports of heavy machinery, equipment and necessary supplies. He added that the much-needed new infrastructure would benefit sustainable, fast and inclusive Philippine economic growth.

FFCCCII officers: (from left) George Siy, Delfin Letran, Victor Lim, Angel Ngu, Jose Sio, president Domingo Yap, Alfonso Siy, Cecilio Pedro, George Chiu, Jeffrey Ng, and Anton Kaw

Special guests of the FFCCCII were leaders of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PCCI), the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Anvil Business Club (association of young Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs) and the Federation of Filipino Indian Chambers of Commerce, among others.

Accounting whiz and former SGV Group top official Joe Sio was a revelation as an eloquent, multilingual speaker with unprecedented candor, wisdom and a very good sense of humor. SM Group and BDO founder Henry Sy Sr. had great foresight when he invited Sio to become his chief financial officer and eventually chairman, because this business leader is extremely humble, loyal, wise and capable. Here are some of the thoughts and information he shared at the FFCCCII forum:

• Henry Sy Sr. is a visionary who has founded and led the SM Group with a long-term outlook in business and even philanthropic thrusts. He is very focused on what he knows and his core competencies such as retail, banking and real estate, knowing how to harness the best executive talents and willing to pay for the most qualified people.

• One of the success secrets of the SM Group is that its founder and wife, Felicidad Tan Sy, have sired and raised six hardworking, loyal and disciplined children, whom Sio told the founder are the “six Henry Sys,” who emulated the traditional Confucian values of their parents. He told the founder: “You are lucky; you have six Henry Sys.”

• In just one lifetime, Sy, a humble immigrant from Fujian province and self-made entrepreneur, built up a shoe retail store into three of the Philippines’ biggest companies in terms of market capitalization: No. 1 is SMIC with P1.3 trillion in market capitalization, No. 2 is SM Prime Holdings with P1.1 trillion, and No. 3 is BDO Unibank, with P800 billion.

• According to Sio, the success secrets of Sy and the SM Group are: 1) Vision — they don’t plan things for the next six months or year but always five years ahead; 2) Chairman emeritus Sy is not afraid to think big, and moves and acts quickly and decisively; 3) Hard work, for which there is “no substitute”; 4) Sy thinks out of the box. He’d joke that Sio studied at New York University, while Sy studied at Far Eastern University, but that Ivy League and prestigious Western universities might not guarantee that their graduates would be capable of thinking outside of the box.

• Sio half-joked that their business group hopes that every Filipino child’s first three words would be “Papa, Mama, and SM.”

• When Sy hired Sio from the SGV Group — then led by the late Washington SyCip — he only asked two things from Sio: to work hard and continue to be trustworthy.

• Sy and the SM Group succeeded not only due to operational and financial excellence, good leadership by its founding family members and professionals, but also by being good and socially responsible corporate citizens of the Philippines and other countries where they do business, such as China.

• Sio said that the SM Group has always paid the right and honest taxes, and that the Sy family has supported numerous socio-civic and philanthropic causes through the years. For the SM Group, “business is not for the money alone, it is about helping others and doing good for our fellowmen.”

• A young businessman in the forum asked Sio to assess the drive and cultural values of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs. Sio was very candid: “The present generation of Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs are very hardworking, dedicated and most can be trusted. But beyond that, the future young generation — I have some doubts due to the many noises and influences. What the young generations need are fathers, mothers and elders strong enough (culturally) to discipline them or care.”

• Another young entrepreneur asked Sio about the qualities of good leadership. He replied that President Rody Duterte is an exemplar of good leadership, that he is not afraid of the US or Europe, that Duterte’s only preoccupation is to protect the national interests of the Philippines, which is courageous and selfless.

• Sio cited the work ethic of the people and visionary leaders of Asia’s “dragon economies” like China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and said that the economy of Vietnam would rise “in five years.”

• When a middle-aged businessman asked how to assess companies when investing in the stock market or other deals, Sio said he once asked that of his former boss the late SGV Group founder Washington SyCip.

SyCip replied: “Look at the leaders, whether it’s assessing companies or countries or families, and then you will know what will be their future 10 years from now.” Sio said that the two most important factors for the success of corporations, families or countries are leadership and committed people.

He believes that the Philippines now has strong-willed, reformist and honest leadership under President Duterte and has high hopes that citizens will be committed and work hard to ensure the continued fast economic growth and social progress of the Philippines. 

* * *

Thanks for your feedback! Email willsoonflourish@gmail.com or wilsonleeflores@yahoo.com. Follow @wilsonleeflores on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, read my blog wilsonleeflores.com.