Project Kalasag
The issue. Philippine National Bank needed a go-to-market strategy, a business plan, and financial projections for a digital bank. The parent brand was not the argument. A license application that restates the branch business in an app is a no waiting for a signature.
The questions.
What is the differentiated case for a digital bank in the Philippines, and why can this institution make it?
How is the business plan built around that case, rather than around the products the bank already sells?
What does the Bangko Sentral have to see before it agrees Philippine National Bank should hold the license?
The outcome. The business case was written for a digital platform, not for a digital channel of the existing bank. The plan named the segments, the target markets, the go-to-market, and the base products. Full financial projections sat under the same case, so the application and the economics told one story. Philippine National Bank applied for the digital bank license on that basis.
Project Juliet
The issue. Shinhan Bank needed a business plan and regulatory guidance to establish a branch in the Philippines. Korean clients already operating in the country were the opening.
The questions.
What does the business plan for a foreign bank branch have to contain, and what can be left out?
How large is the market for serving Korean multinationals in the Philippines, in loans rather than in relationships?
What capital structure meets Basel 3, and still leaves the branch able to lend?
What will convince the Bangko Sentral to grant the license?
The outcome. The target market, the products, the credit risk, and the capital adequacy were set in one plan. The market for Korean loans in the Philippines was quantified, so the branch was sized to a book rather than to an ambition. The financing plan and the capital structure were built to Basel 3. With legal counsel, the application was taken through the Bangko Sentral’s process. The foreign banking license was approved in less than three months.
Project Spyglass Hill
Project Windsor
Project Bronco
The issue. Pru Life U.K. wanted into asset management and needed a market study of growth, competition, and opportunity.
The questions.
Who already manages money in this market, and which of them can a new entrant actually take share from?
What products are sold, and at what price, once the headline fee is stripped of what distribution keeps?
What people does a distribution build require, and what does that do to the cost of entry?
What actually drives profitability, and which of those drivers can an insurer borrow from its existing business?
The outcome. Competitors, products, pricing, and human-capital requirements were benchmarked, so the entry was costed rather than described. Profitability drivers were updated against the current industry, not against the insurer’s own book. With the legal team, the regulatory environment was enumerated, so the opportunity was read inside the rules that govern it. Pru Life U.K. left with a realistic picture of where growth in financial services was available, and where an insurance brand does not transfer.
The issue. Pru Life U.K. wanted to expand into asset management through a new trust company. That required a business plan, projections, and help obtaining the trust license. The market study had named the opportunity. The license was the gate.
The questions.
What does the business plan for a trust company have to contain before the regulator will treat it as a plan of operation?
How does the application get from submission to a license the Bangko Sentral will grant?
The outcome. The business plan and the plan of operation were written for the asset-management expansion, not adapted from the insurance business. The approval process was then navigated against that file. The trust company license was granted. Pru Life U.K. could operate an asset management business.
The issue. Small Business Corporation, the government institution that lends to micro, small, and medium enterprises, was falling short of its lending targets. The slogan said where MSMEs go to grow. The portfolio was not getting there. Funding, products, clients, and reach had to be read against the mandate, not against last year’s plan.
The questions.
Why are the lending targets being missed, once effort is separated from fit?
Which segment is the institution actually built to serve?
What mix of products and funding gets penetration of that segment, rather than activity across all of them?
The outcome. The market strategy was assessed from the sources of funds through to the client the product reached. The weakness was in the business model, measured against the strategic mandate. The recommendation was an overhaul of funding sources and a shift to a different segment, so penetration improved because the offer matched the market. The institution realigned its market priority. The product portfolio was pointed at needs it could actually meet.
Project Rainbow
The issue. Grab wanted the business case for a controlling look at Home Credit Philippines, a retail point-of-sale buy-now-pay-later platform. The appeal was the merchant reach. The risk was paying for a loan book, an onboarding flow, and a competitive position that a platform cannot simply absorb.
The questions.
What is the business case for buying this target, once the strategic story is separated from the credit economics?
How is Home Credit positioned against the lenders and the platforms already at the point of sale?
How does the customer interface compare with the products and apps a borrower can open instead?
How strong is the target, financially, inside the buy-now-pay-later market it claims?
The outcome. Product offerings were set against competitors, not against the pitch. Onboarding was compared as a process a customer either finishes or abandons. Financial standing was read as a lender’s standing, not as a technology multiple. Grab left with a view of where Home Credit actually sits in the lending market: what the point-of-sale reach is worth, and what the credit book still has to earn after the close.