Catherine L. Ong
SVP – Treasurer
Catherine L. Ong, Filipino, COL’s SVP – Treasurer, is also the Chairman of COL Equity Index Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc. and COL Strategic Growth Equity Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc. (formerly COL Cash Management Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc.), the SVP – Chief Audit Executive and Director of CTS Global Equity Group, Inc. and the Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Cedarside Industries, Inc., Barrington Carpets, Inc., and Citimex, Inc. She has held the latter position for more than 30 years. She was formerly a director of COL. She has extensive experience in banking, having held various positions in Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank). She was an Assistant Vice President and Area Supervisor of Metrobank and served as a Director of Metrobank’s subsidiary, Pan Philippines Life Insurance Corp. (now known as Philippine Axa Life). Ms. Ong graduated from the Philippine Women’s University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, Major in Accounting.
Juan G. Barredo
FVP – Chief Customer Experience Officer
Juan “Juanis” G. Barredo, Filipino, Chief Customer Experience Officer for COL, oversees the positive operations of COL's Business Center, its Sales division as well as its Premium and Retail Customer Service divisions. He also spearheads the COL Investor Seminar Series, the flagship investor education program of the Corporation, geared to empower COL customers and the investing public to build their knowledge base through a series of progressive stock market training sessions so that they can confidently invest in the Philippine Stock Market. He has addressed an audience of over 200,000 people nationwide with topics ranging from the basics of stock market investing to introductory and advanced technical analysis seminars. Mr. Barredo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from De La Salle University in 1990 and is a Certified Securities Representative.
Nikos J. Bautista
FVP – Chief Technology Officer
Nikos J. Bautista, Filipino, is the Chief Technology Officer of COL. He was also a consultant and a committee member for the Trading System Project of the PSE which was launched successfully mid2010 and for various projects of the PDEX. He was with the I.T. Department of the PSE as manager, in charge of all the I.T.-related activities of the Exchange from 1993 to 1997. In 1997, he joined Computershare, an Australian-based software development company specializing in trading systems wherein he took charge of all technical aspects of the business. In 2000, he put up a software development company, Finatechs, Inc., where he served as its President and Chief Executive Officer until 2003. Mr. Bautista is a graduate of De La Salle University with a Bachelor of Computer Science Degree with Masteral Courses in Computer Science.
Lorena E. Velarde
FVP – Chief Financial Officer
Lorena E. Velarde, Filipino, is the Chief Financial Officer of COL and was appointed in such position after having served as the Corporation’s Financial Controller from 2010 to 2020. She is concurrently an Associated Person of CTS Global Equity Group, Inc. and the Treasurer of COL Investment Management, Inc., COL Equity Index Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc., and COL Strategic Growth Equity Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc. (formerly COL Cash Management Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc.) She was previously the Accounting Department Head of CTS Global Equity Group, Inc. and Citisec Asset Management, Inc., the fund manager for Citisec Growth and Income Fund, Inc. Before that, she was a Senior Associate in-charge at SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. which provided her extensive training in tax, accounting and financial reporting. Ms. Velarde graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Commerce Major in Accounting in 1991 and became a Certified Public Accountant in the same year.
April Lynn L. Tan
FVP – Chief Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy
April Lynn L. Tan, Filipino, is the Chief Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy of COL. She is the Corporation’s Chief Equity Strategist, Under this role, she has been consistently voted as one of the top three equity strategists by the Fund Managers’ Association of the Philippines, and in 2019, she was voted as “Best Strategist” in the country. She was appointed as the head of COL’s Research Team in 2003 and has been doing equity research since 1996. She is also a Certified Securities Representative and a Certified Investment Solicitor. Outside of her work with COL, she writes a weekly column named “Intelligent Investing” for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and hosts the TV show “Insight with April Lee Tan” for ANC. She is an active member of the CFA Society of the Philippines and was the President of the Society from 2009 to 2016. Under her leadership, CFA Philippines won the “Global CFA Institute Research Challenge” thrice and several Society Excellence Awards including the “Most Outstanding Society” for its size. Ms. Tan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management Engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University. In 2000, she earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Melvin J. Esteban
FVP – Head of Wealth Management
Mr. Melvin J. Esteban is the first and only Filipino recipient of the Young ASEAN Manager Award (YAMA), conferred in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is also the first and only Filipino to have chaired the ASEAN Insurance Congress, a premier regional forum for insurance and financial leaders. He is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI) with Distinction and holds multiple international designations, including Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), Registered Financial Planner (RFP) accredited by the Registered Financial Planning Institute in the USA, and Certified Financial Consultant (CFC) awarded with High Distinction by the Institute of Financial Consultants in Canada. With nearly three decades of experience in the financial services industry, Mr. Esteban has demonstrated leadership and expertise in Fund Management, Marketing, Product Development, Strategic Business Development, Profit Center Management, and Workplace Learning and Development. He served as Head of Wealth Management Specialists and Soliciting Official for Citibank N.A. in North America, and as Senior Consultant for Citibank Malaysia. Mr. Esteban holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from the University of the Philippines, with minors in operations research, actuarial sciences, C programming, and physics. His academic credentials include postgraduate studies at the College of Financial Planning in Colorado, USA, completion of the Managing Family Corporations for Succession Planning program at the Asian Institute of Management, and a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Workplace Learning and Development with Distinction from De La Salle University, Philippines.
Melissa O. Ng
VP – Head of Operations
Melissa O. Ng, Taiwanese, holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Economics and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from De La Salle University. She earned her MBA (Silver Medalist) from De La Salle University in 2000. She has been with COL since 2007 and has previous banking experience from Security Bank and Union Bank of the Philippines.
Sharon T. Lim
VP – Head of Legal & Compliance
Sharon T. Lim, Filipino, started with the Corporation as its Compliance and Legal Officer and was appointed as the Head of the Legal and Compliance Department in 2016. She was appointed as Corporate Secretary on November 2018 and also serves as the Corporate Secretary of CTS Global Equity Group, Inc., COL Equity Index Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc., COL Strategic Growth Equity Unitized Mutual Fund, Inc., and COL Investment Management, Inc. She was the Head of COL’s Human Resources Department from 2016 up to 2019. Atty. Lim previously worked at Puyat, Jacinto, and Santos Law Offices and Picazo Buyco Tan Fider and Santos Law Offices. She graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Management Engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University, Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines, and Master of Laws (Corporate & Financial Services Law) from the National University of Singapore. She was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2007, is a licensed Associated Person and Certified Information Privacy Manager.
Joyce G. Chan
VP-Head of Client Services
Joyce G. Chan, Filipino, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Ateneo De Manila University. She started as a Management Associate with the Philam Group of Companies before becoming a Corporate Trainer and Development Officer. She joined COL in 2010 as its Sales Manager and was later on appointed as the Head of Customer Support. She was recently promoted as Head of Client Services of the Corporation, handling the operations of both the Customer Support Department and the Premium Clients Group of COL. She is a Certified Securities Representative, Certified Investment Solicitor, Certified UITF Sales Person, and a Fellow in the Life Management Institute with Honors.
Gabriel Jose E. Mendiola
Head of Software Development
Gabriel Jose E. Mendiola, Filipino, is the Head of Software Development of COL. He started working at the Corporation in 2007 as the I.T. Manager, and is currently in charge of the design, development, and evaluation of computer software or systems used by COL. He is also involved in dictating technical standard, tools, and platforms. Before joining COL, he worked at Unisys Philippines, Ltd. and at GXS Philippines, Inc. as Senior Software Engineer. Mr. Mendiola is a Computer Science – Information Technology graduate of De LaSalle University.
Rea P. Orteza
AVP – Head of Accounting Operations
Rea P. Orteza, Filipino, started as the Accounting Manager of CTS Global Equity Group, Inc. where she served for 10 years before transitioning to COL. She was appointed as Accounting Senior Manager in 2016 and AVP – Head of Accounting Operations in 2021. Ms. Orteza is a B.S. Accountancy graduate from the Central Philippine University and is a certified public accountant.
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