The Unicapital Securities Team

Our good governance is rooted in high standards of competence and expertise, as we continue to forge strong relationships with our clients.

The Unicapital Securities Team

Our good governance is rooted in high standards of competence and expertise, as we continue to forge strong relationships with our clients.

Board of Directors

ATTY. AVELINO J. CRUZ, JR.

Chairman

Atty. Avelino J. Cruz, Jr. has vast experiences in the general practice of law, including practice areas of litigation and dispute resolution, commercial and corporate, administrative, constitutional and election law. He also served the government in various capacities as: Secretary of National Defense from August 2004 to November 2006, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel from January 2001 to January 2004 and Active Executive Secretary from 2003 to 2004. Atty. Cruz graduated Salutatorian and Cum Laude from the University of the Philippines, College of Law in 1977 and placed 7th in the Bar Examinations of the same year. He has been admitted to the practice of law by the New York Bar and was Bar Examiner in Commercial Law in the 1995 Bar Examinations. He also finished BS Mathematics from the Ateneo de Manila University. As a student leader, he was President of the UP Law Student Government and the Ateneo Student Council. He was Senior Editor of The Philippine Collegian of U.P. and member of the editorial board of The Guidon of the Ateneo.

Chairman

BEN THOMAS P. PAÑARES

Director

Mr. Pañares is the President and CEO of Unicapital Securities, Inc. and is the Managing Director of Unicapital Inc. and Unicapital Finance and Investments, Inc. He has extensive experience in the different facets of financial services in both the US and Asia covering the areas of Wealth Management, Asset Management, Private Banking, Trust, Investment Advisory and Financial Services. He was the former President of ATRAM Inc. and Chief Marketing Officer of ATRAM Group as well as the former President of Citicorp Financial Services and Insurance Brokerage Philippines. Prior to this, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Sun Life Asset Management Company, Philippines. He holds a degree in Business Management from Ateneo de Manila University and a Masters in Business Administration in International Management from Thunderbird, School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona.

Director

JAIME J. MARTIREZ

Director

Mr. Martirez is concurrently the Group President and CEO of the Unicapital Group of Companies and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Group. He holds other key positions in several private and publicly listed corporations that are engaged in the fields of energy, real estate, water distribution, and information technology Vice President and Director of MAJALCO, Inc., XCT Corporation, a supplier of IT equipments for BPOs’ and Des Eaux Utilities Co., Inc., a bulk water provider of several local water districts in Bulacan. He is likewise a Director and Vice President of MJ Realty; Treasurer of GJ Holdings; and President of Unoventure Inc., an enterprise facilities provider located in the PEZA Industrial Parks south of Metro Manila. He also sits as Director of Malayan Savings and Mortgage Bank, Insular Rural Bank and Acme Pawnshops, Inc. He sits as a Director of Basic Energy Corporation, a publicly listed company in the Philippine Stock Exchange engaged in oil and renewable energy exploration and heads as Chairman the finance and investments committee of the company. He is also the Treasurer and a Director of Unicapital Securities, Inc. He holds a degree in Business Administration from De La Salle University and completed his post-graduate courses from the Ateneo de Manila Graduate School of Business. Mr. Martirez is a member of the Makati Business Club, Charter member of the Rotary Club of Makati Ayala and a past member of the Manila Jaycees.

Director

MIGUEL FRANCISCO P. CAPARAS

Director

Mr. Caparas is concurrently the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Bainbridge Management Partners. Prior to this, he was a Director of Cleantech Energy Corporation from 2016 to 2018.

He graduated with Honors from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and he has a Masters in Business Administration degree, Major in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Director

RENE CARLOS P. MENDOZA

Director

Mr. Mendoza is concurrently the Chairman and Managing Director of Techtrade Asia, Inc. and the President and Director of LTA Condominium Corp. and Phalanx Properties, Inc. He is a Director of G.G. Mendoza & Sons Enterprises Inc. and Health Marketing Technologies, Inc. He is also the Charter President of the Rotary Club of Makati Southwest and a member of the Board of Trustees of Rotary Chores (MSW) Foundation, Inc. He holds masteral units from the Ateneo de Manila Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Communications from the University of the Philippines.

Director

GEORGE J. MARTIREZ

Director

Mr. Martirez is currently the 2nd Vice Chairman/CEO of Malayan Savings and Mortgage Bank and President of MAJALCO, Inc. Makati. He also serves as a Director of Unicapital Finance and Investments, Inc., Unicapital Securities, Inc. Acme Jewelry, Inc. and Acme Pawnshops, Inc. He holds a degree in Economics from De La Salle University and earned his MBA from the University of the Philippines.

Director

JEANETTE B. ZULUETA

Director

Mrs. Zulueta is concurrently the Chairman of Asia PeopleWorks, Inc., Asia Select, Inc., Asia People Search, and ZMG Ward Howell, Inc.

She graduated from Assumption College with a degree in AB Economics and has a Masters in Business Administration degree from the Ateneo de Manila University Graduate School of Business.

Director

ANSON T. UY

Independent Director

Mr. Uy is concurrently the Chairman of the Board of Expresspay, Inc. and the President and CEO of Sagesoft Solution, Inc. He graduated cum laude from the Ateneo de Manila University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Engineering. He is a Director of Gideon Venture Capital, New Union Philippines, Nxtlvl Academy, Parallax Fraud Technologies, Inc., Redental Technologies, Inc., Redstar Asia Solutions, Inc. Vireef Digital, Inc. and Xirrus, Inc. He also joined Touch Solution, Inc. as President and CEO from 2007 to 2013 and concurrently Treasurer of Phylasso Corporation.

Independent Director

JOSE A. NUÑEZ, JR.

Independent Director

Currently, Mr. Nunez is an Independent Director of Unicapital, Inc. and Unicapital Finance and Investments, Inc. Mr. Nunez is also acting Director and Treasurer of Lear Aero Ltd., Inc., Bukidnon Hydro Electric Corporation, La Costa Development Corporation, and Agus 3 Hydropower Corporation. In the Public Sector, Mr. Nunez is acting Vice Chairman for Al Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines and DBP Leasing Corporation. He was also the Chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines and DBP Provident Fund from August 2010 to February 2017. He completed his Master’s in Business Administration from Ateneo de Manila University in 1978 and received his Bachelor of Arts degree Major in Economics Honors Program from Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan in 1972.

Independent Director

RAMON A. CARANDANG

Independent Director

Mr. Carandang is a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Economics. He spent his first years as a professional in the investment industry, working as an Analyst and Sale Executive for various stock brokerage houses like Pryce Securities, HG Asia Securities and Kim Eng Securities. In 2000, he helped establish the investigative journalism magazine Newsbreak where he served as Business editor and President. He also joined ABS-CBN where he worked as a reporter, presenter and commentator. Citing his expertise in the field of communications and his track record in finance and economics, he was appointed Secretary of Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning by President Benigno S. Aquino III. He left the government in December 2013. He is concurrently the CEO of Ronin Consultancy Services and Head of the Integrated Corporate Communications Unit and Vice President of the First Philippine Holdings Corporation.

Independent Director

Our Team

BEN THOMAS P. PAÑARES

President and CEO of Unicapital Securities, Inc.

President and CEO

MARIA CONCEPCION Y. FERNANDEZ

First Vice President, Nominee

Marlyne is part of the team that interfaces with the company’s institutional accounts. She has extensive experience in the stock brokerage business having been formerly connected with PNB Securities Corp. Marlyne was also part of the Syndication and Origination Group of PCI Capital Corp. She graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Computational Finance at De La Salle University.

First Vice President, Nominee

NEIL PATRICK A. GABALDON

Assistant Vice President, Equities Sales

A Certified Securities Representative and a Certified Investment Solicitor, Neil serves as the Equity Sales Head for UTrade, the online brokerage unit of Unicapital Securities, Inc. and is actively involved in trading, dealing and client relationship management. He also handles the IT team and Operations team. Neil is a graduate of Industrial Management Engineering minor in Information Technology at De La Salle University.

Assistant Vice President, Equities Sales

Michelle Christine M. Ungco

Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and Marketing

Michelle started her professional career in the fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG) as part of the brand management team of Colgate Palmolive Philippines, Inc. before later on moving to Kraft Foods Philippines. In 2008, she joined the General Management Program of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific where she worked on branding and marketing projects of the ING Investment Management Personal Financial Services team in Manila and the ING Insurance Corporate Communications team in Hong Kong.

Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and Marketing

Lyndon C. Lim

Senior Vice President, Accounting and Operations

Lyndon joined the Unicapital Group as SVP Accounting and Operations in April 2023. A Certified Public Accountant by profession, he started his career as an auditor at PWC Philippines where he worked for 3 years before joining the Manila Office of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). In his 25 years with HSBC, he was assigned to various departments such as the Securities Services group where he was exposed to the Philippine capital markets, the Trades Services Group where he gained his exposure in corporate banking and the Credit Card Operations Group where he gained his retail banking experience. His final years with HSBC were spent in the Finance Dept as the Head of local regulatory reporting and doing compliance advisories on BSP regulatory matters. Lyndon was also part of the pioneer team which started the operations of CIMB Bank Philippines primarily responsible for setting up its accounting system. He was also the Head of both the Head Office and Local Regulatory Reporting units of the Bank. His last position in CIMB was the OIC of the Finance Dept.

Lyndon received his Bachelor of Science, Major in Accountancy degree from the Philippine School of Business Administration where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Senior Vice President, Accounting and Operations

ATTY. AIRENE P. CARANDANG

First Vice President, Legal & Data Protection

Atty. Carandang is a CPA lawyer and is the Corporate Legal Head and Data Protection Officer of the Unicapital Group. Prior to joining Unicapital, Atty. Carandang was an associate lawyer of Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos Law Offices, where she gained extensive experience in corporate and taxation law. Her practice areas include mergers and acquisition, capital markets, competition law, real estate and taxation. She also became an associate lawyer of Angara Abello Concepcion Regala and Cruz Law Office under its Taxation Department. She is a certified public accountant and has audited publicly listed companies as an assurance associate of SGV & Co. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in accountancy in 2009 at the University of Santo Tomas and her Juris Doctor degree in 2015 at the Ateneo De Manila University, where she graduated with honors.

First Vice President, Legal & Data Protection

Freda N. Canales

Assistant Vice President, Accounting

Eds is currently the Assistant Vice President of Accounting for Unicapital Group. She proved herself to be a loyal advocate of the company with 17 years of experience in the Accounting Department. She is also a registered Associated Person for Unicapital Securities Inc.

Her responsibilities include the accurate and timely preparation and analyses of all facets of the financial operations of Unicapital Group including financial statement preparation, cash management and budget preparation.

She is a DOST scholar grantee and a graduate of the University of San Jose Recoletos with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy.

Assistant Vice President, Accounting

JUAN PAOLO G. MARTIREZ

Senior Manager, Equities Sales

Paolo has been in the industry since 2006 and has extensive experience in stock trading. As a Certified Securities Representative, he has been handling retail and corporate accounts and has been a part of the team that handles the company’s proprietary account. In 2012, he successfully completed the 6-month Certified Securities Specialist course offered by the Philippine Stock Exchange. He graduated with a Master in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management in 2013 and earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Ateneo de Manila University. He is also a member of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Manila.

Senior Manager, Equities Sales

DIANA CRIZEL L. MONTES

Assistant Vice President, Marketing

Diana Montes, currently the Assistant Vice President for Marketing at Unicapital, has a well-rounded background in Brand Management, Trade Marketing, and Account Management. She has worked in various sectors, including retail with SM Supermalls, distribution at Global Pacific Distribution Network Corporation, and creative agency work at J. Walter Thompson – Manila. Her experience also extends to telecommunications, with roles at Source Telecoms and Eastern Telecoms. Diana’s broad experience equips her to effectively contribute to Unicapital’s marketing initiatives.

Assistant Vice President, Marketing

ELOISA M. RALUTIN

Assistant Vice President, Internal Audit

Eloi joined Unicapital as AVP for Internal Audit in April 2024. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with extensive experience in Internal Auditing and Bank Branch Operations. Three (3) years as Area Operations Officer at Eastwest Bank (EW) handling 14 branches in Greenhills and Mandaluyong areas. Another fifteen (15) years as Audit Manager in BPI contributing expertise in Risk Identification, Management and Control.

She conducted numerous fraud investigations while at BPI and EW. And she was able to identify a system glitch which led to a significant improvement initiative.

Aside from her extensive experience in banking, she had also done general accounting and taxation as a freelance accountant.

She completed her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy at Jose Rizal University as Cum Laude.

Assistant Vice President, Internal Audit

wendy estacio cruz

Senior Manager, Research

Wendy serves as the Head of Research for Unicapital Securities, Inc. She was with CLSA as Equity Research Associate Director from August 2022 to October 2023. Wendy also worked with the Philippine National Bank as a Senior Investment Research Manager and Multinational Investment Bancorporation as a Credit Research Analyst and Money-Market Trader. She is a SEC Certified Fixed Income Salesman and she graduated as a Cum Laude Full Scholar from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Business Administration majoring in Financial Management.

Senior Manager, Research

JANEL INGRID KIERSTEN C. ESQUIVEL

Senior Manager, Operations

As the Senior Manager of the Operations Department, Janel manages the day-to-day operations of Unicapital Securities, Inc. She has been in the company since 2017 and is responsible for any related transactions regarding cash and stock settlements and corporate actions. She previously worked at COL Financial Group, Inc. as Operations Specialist from 2012 to 2017. She has a degree of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Sto. Tomas.

Senior Manager, Operations

PARKY LYNDON A. DEMANO

Senior Manager, Group Compliance

Park is currently serving as the Group Compliance Officer. He has fifteen (15) years of banking experience in compliance, AML, credit, branch operations, remedial, and ROPA.

Prior to joining Unicapital, he worked with PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies / Cebuana Lhuillier Bank for more than 2 years as OIC/Head of AML Department where he oversaw and led the AML Department in the implementation of the Bank’s AML Program/Plan to ensure compliance with AMLA Law, as Amended, its IRR and AMLC regulatory issuances.

He also worked in Eastwest Bank as a Compliance Assurance Officer. He was an Asset and Remedial Management Specialist for 3 years and became Deputy Compliance Officer for almost 5 years at Equicom Savings Bank. He also worked at China Banking Corporation as a Teller, and at Tiaong Rural Bank as Credit/Loans Supervisor and became Admin for Acquired Assets.

He obtained his degree in A.B. Economics from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng San Pablo (PLSP) with academic distinction.

Senior Manager, Group Compliance

FIDEL H. APOLONIO JR.

Manager, Information Technology

Fidel holds the role of IT Manager at Unicapital Securities, Inc. In this capacity, he shoulders the responsibility of overseeing both front and back-office systems while playing a pivotal role in driving the digital transformation initiatives forward. Among his accomplishments are the successful implementation of projects encompassing order management, macro programming, and the development of a streamlined digital account-opening system.

He was a Software Engineer and System Analyst at ALN & Company, Inc. and N2N Connect Bhd before he joined Unicapital. He possesses a wealth of experience spanning six years in the field of system analysis and programming.

Fidel graduated with Cum Laude honors from Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology.

Manager, Information Technology

REGINA ROSARIO P. GARRUCHO

Manager, Agency Sales

Rinna serves as the Head of Agency Sales and has been a Certified Securities Representative and licensed stock broker since December 2011 with Unicapital Securities Inc. She is responsible for the execution of buying and selling of equities through the Philippine Stock Exchange and is also responsible for relationship management of institutional and priority accounts. She has worked with different organizations such as EMB Group of Companies, Nestle Philippines, ICT Group Inc, and Etelecare International. She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Communication Arts.

Manager, Agency Sales

Gavin C. Lee

Adviser, Research

Alongside his role as an Adviser at Unicapital Securities, Inc., Gavin is an instructor at the Ateneo De Manila University’s Graduate School of Business – Center for Continuing Education (CCE) in Makati City. He was previously an Assistant Professor at the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business (VSB) (formerly College of Business Administration) at the University of the Philippines – Diliman where he taught Accounting and Finance for more than 15 years. He has conducted numerous seminars and training for various institutions, including the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), and the Institute of Internal Auditors – Philippines (IIA-P).

Gavin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Accountancy and a Master of Science degree in Finance from the VSB at the University of the Philippines – Diliman. He also holds the following professional certifications: Certified Public Accountant (CPA) – Philippines, Certified Internal Auditor (CIA ®), and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA ®).

Adviser, Research