Family Conglomerates: Ayala, SM and San Miguel

How a few family business groups dominate banking, property, retail and utilities in the Philippines, and concerns about competition.

A handful of family conglomerates dominate the Philippine economy.

Major groups

Ayala: one of Asia’s oldest groups, in property, banking (BPI) and telecom (Globe).
SM (Sy family): malls, banking (BDO) and property.
San Miguel: beer, food, infrastructure and power.
JG Summit (Gokongwei), Aboitiz and Metro Pacific.

Market concentration

Sectors like telecom, power and banking have few players.
Before 2016, telecom was a duopoly of Globe and PLDT-Smart, with slow, expensive internet.
DITO, a third player backed by China Telecom, entered in 2021.

Competition law

The Philippines passed its Philippine Competition Act only in 2015.

Opening up

In 2022, amendments to the Public Service Act allowed full foreign ownership in sectors like telecom and airlines, aiming to increase competition.

Comparison

Like India’s family groups, Philippine conglomerates bring capital and scale but raise concentration concerns.

The mall city

In Manila, one group's malls, banks and condos form entire districts where much of daily life happens within its businesses.

Thinking many firms compete in every Philippine sector

A few conglomerates dominate key sectors.

Key takeaways

Ayala, SM and San Miguel dominate many sectors.
Telecom was a duopoly until DITO entered in 2021.
A competition law arrived only in 2015.
2022 reforms allowed more foreign ownership.