Manila office extends Bain's Southeast Asian footprint to five

After an interruption to its plans due to Covid-19, global management consultancy Bain & Company has officially launched a long-planned office in Manila, its fifth in Southeast Asia.

The new office in the Philippines brings Bain & Company’s total footprint in Southeast Asia to five locations, with further outlets in Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta. Patricia Buenaventura Nichol, a partner in the financial services practice, will lead the new office, given responsibility for growth, operations, people and strategy.

Nichol stated that the consulting firm had already been serving clients in the Philippines from its other offices and had held the ambition to set up a physical presence for many years.

“Establishing a strong local presence with a senior Filipino leadership team will allow us to further increase the depth of our partnerships with our clients, attract and develop the best local talent, and enhance the capabilities in our communities.”

Based in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, the practice already has a team of about 20 professionals, with more to be added. Alongside Nichol, who has been with Bain for over sixteen years across two stints, other senior leaders include expert partner Gino Dizon, and associate partners Gina Yu-Aquino and Bennett Aquino. The firm said further regional and global experts would be brought in to help drive change in key sectors.

“On the back of our double-digit growth, Bain & Company is excited to establish a physical footprint in the Philippines,” said Wade Cruse, who was earlier this year appointed as the firm’s new Southeast Asia managing partner. “The Philippines has emerged as a significant market in Southeast Asia, with high gross domestic product growth rates, a large and growing consumer market, and underpinned by a strong talent pool.”

Speaking with the local media, Cruse’s predecessor Jean-Pierre Felenbok, who will serve as chairman of the Philippines’ venture, said that the firm had been planning to launch before the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic. “We were actually ready to go just before the pandemic hit, but it was not a good idea to start moving people around the systems. We’re very glad now that this is behind us, and that we can actually bring this plan forward.”

Today operating in 40 countries with a headcount of more than 14,000 worldwide, Bain first landed in Asia with a Tokyo office in 1981, more than a decade behind headline rivals Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company. The firm now has more than a dozen offices across Asia, and is led at the global level by Manny Maceda, who was raised in the Philippines and is considered one of the world’s most influential people of Asian heritage.