Trust Career Education
Trust Institute Foundation of the Philippines
Jul 17, 2009
The Trust Institute Foundation of the Philippines was founded as the Philippine Trust Institute in 1977 by the late Victorio (Terry) T. Gomez, then Trust Officer of Solidbank and President of TOAP. Seeing the need to create and implement a professional benchmark in the blossoming Trust Industry he along with co founders Atty. Lauro J. Jocson, currently the Trust Officer of Prudential Bank and President of TIFP, and Atty. Reynaldo G. Geronimo, now a senior partner at Romulo, Mabanta et. al. Law Offices and a regular lecturer at the Institute, Atty. Mariano C. Ereso, Jr. (Pacific Bank), Atty. Matias N. Jaravata (PNB), Mr. Jaime B. Mendoza (Feati Bank), Mr. Antonio Paner (Filman Bank) and the late Atty. Napoleon R. Malolos (Veterans Bank), planted the seed of which every Trust practitioner benefits from today.
As the only formally established institution for trust education in the country for the past 25 years, the TIFP’s primary mission was to provide formal training to local trust and fund management practitioners. This was carried out through its One-Year Course on Trust Operations and Investment Management.
The One-Year Course covered a wide range of subjects, ranging from the legal and conceptual foundations of trust and fiduciary relationships to the various analytical techniques employed in portfolio management. The program ran for three hours every Saturday for a period of ten months – a full two semesters, parallel to regular class schedules. Its students went through periodic examinations and were graded to measure their performance. The most outstanding student of each class was awarded a special scholarship to the National Graduate Trust School of the American Bankers Association at the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. And Though much of the curriculum has evolved through the course of time, it has remained constantly faithful to the needs and demands of the times.
Starting with only 14 students in its first year, TIFP now counts 1,306 professionals in its roster of graduates. These graduates consist mostly of trust practitioners, some of which have reached top positions in their institutions. Attesting to the relevance of the One-Year Course is the fact that a good number of its Alumni are non-trust practitioners who hold important posts in the private sector and in government institutions such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
In fulfillment of its mission of educating trust practitioners, the TIFP recognized the need for further education beyond the One-Year Course. In 1993, The TIFP in conjunction with Trust Officers Association of the Philippines, promoted public awareness in trust by conducting free public seminars in various schools and universities, as well as in different cities of the country in the annual observance of the Trust Consciousness Week. In 1998 it began offering specialized courses, focusing on recent developments in the trust business. Upon the request of various institutions, the TIFP formulated and conducted special seminars for various groups covering a wide various topics ranging from advanced portfolio management techniques, risk management in trust, and updated regulations on trust.
To date the TIFP continues to offer its one year course held from July to April at the AIM in Makati. Various seminars and one day courses also remain constants in the TIFP calendar, and its partnership with the TOAP remains in promoting Trust awareness remains just as fervent.
We have all befitted from the progressive and active success of the TIFP. And through 25 years in existence and beyond, its success will always be attributed to the vision and tireless dedication of those who founded it and nurtured its growth.