The Yuchengco Group of Companies traces its roots back to a small
insurance firm holding office in a modest two-story shophouse in 1930.
Today it is one of Southeast Asia’s largest conglomerates with over 60
corporations employing more than 14,000 people.
No 614 Gandara
Street is the address where the Yuchengco family lived before the war.
This was also the same address of the insurance firm, China Insurance
and Surety Company which was founded by Don Enrique Yuchengco.
Many
changes were taking place in the Philippines at the time the company
was founded. The Commonwealth was inaugurated in 1935 by Manuel L.
Quezon. The Americans began a series of building projects including the
erection of Manila landmarks such as the Philippine General Hospital,
Manila Hotel, and the Philippine Normal School.
The China
Insurance and Surety Company was also undergoing a lot of changes with
Don Enrique constantly improving on the services of the company. With
only a capital of P147,500, he built the insurance company. After one
decade of operations, the company’s gross premium income rose to
P713,976 with total assets of more than P400,000 for a total business
of over a million pesos.
The Second World War forced business
operations to stop but immediately after the liberation, Don Enrique
together with the former investors of the China Insurance and Surety
Company decided to revive the company. This time using the name Malayan
Insurance Company, Inc. as a response to the nationalistic atmosphere
and growing awareness of the need to build an identity for a brown race
in Southeast Asia – the Malay Race.
The next company to be
established was The Great Pacific Life Assurance Corporation
(Grepalife), which was founded by Don Enrique’s son, Don Alfonso
Yuchengco in 1954. It was the first life insurance company to be
created after the Second World War. Grepalife began its operations in
Binondo with Gen. Carlos P. Romulo as the company’s first president. It
introduced various innovations in the field of insurance. It pioneered
in the liberal underwriting of medically substandard cases. It also
started the concept of group credit life insurance which gave
protection to both debtor and creditor.
Five years after the
establishment of Grepalife, the House of Investments, Inc was
incorporated. At a time when investment banking was still alien to the
public, the House of Investments played a key role in the area of
project development and management. During its formative years, the
company built its holdings through mergers and acquisitions of various
companies and industries.
House of Investments actually put up
38 percent of the capital of the next enterprise to be created by the
Yuchengcos, the Rizal Development Bank, the precursor of the Rizal
Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). RCBC started with an operating
staff of 32 employees. With the opening of additional branches, an
additional 25 officers, trainees, and probationary appointees were
recruited. RCBC also pioneered services in the banking industry such
as the first time deposit package.
The youngest among YGC’s
major companies is a philanthropic foundation, the Alfonso Yuchengco
Foundation. It was established as a manifestation of YGC’s corporate
commitment to serving the public good. Established in the 1970s, the AY
Foundation has a unique mandate to respond to the needs of the
community. For the past three decades, it has conducted several social
development programs and corporate philanthropy.
Today,
the group focuses on the areas of insurance and financial services,
and operates through main corporate enterprises and a philanthropic
foundation: the Malayan Group of Insurance Companies, the Great Pacific
Assurance Corporation, the Houses of Investments, Inc., the Rizal
Commercial Banking Corporation, and the Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation,
Inc.
|