Robert B. Jordan Jr., fondly known as Bobby to his family and friends, has been instrumental in shaping the non-bank financial sector of the Philippines through his pioneering leadership as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Asialink Finance Corporation. With a keen focus on innovative solutions tailored for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), he has been playing an indispensable role in stimulating economic growth and job creation. His far-sighted strategies aim not only at empowering businesses to thrive but also at alleviating unemployment and poverty at the grassroots.
If one were to depict Bobby’s professional journey concisely, the words would be clarity, dedication, determination, purposefulness, and accomplishment. However, what does success represent to him? To him, success extends beyond private reward or material prosperity. He believes that true victory in business lies in generating returns for clients while prioritizing the well-being of each employee, whom he regards as the company’s most valuable asset.
Life Before Becoming a Financial Leader
Bobby emerged from humble beginnings, fueling an intractable drive to uplift Filipinos hampered by financial limitations and social difficulties. Not only did he seek to transform his own life, but he aspired to better the lives of others as well.
Reflecting on his youth, he recalled being raised in a fish port area in Metro Manila. He obtained his degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman before earning an MBA from Ateneo de Manila University’s esteemed business graduate program. Bobby embarked on his career serving a government agency and swiftly advanced into managerial roles as a Loan Officer for SME lending at various local banks. Across seven years in banking, he discerned a troubling recurring theme: small companies were often denied loans. Sensing an opportunity to address this gap, Robert envisioned establishing a non-bank financial institution to provide tailored loan products specially designed for MSMEs.
In 1997, at age 32, Bobby co-founded Asialink Finance Corporation with two fellow entrepreneurs as the start of his ambitious entrepreneurial journey. Seeing the early success of Asialink, Robert was inspired to pursue greater aspirations and used the experience to establish two additional pioneering financing companies.
Bobby’s persistent drive to empower others through financing has had far-reaching impact, enabling innumerable Filipino entrepreneurs across generations to break financial barriers with innovative ideas and steadfast determination to achieve their boldest dreams of business success against all odds. His leadership serves as a lasting reminder of how one can transform challenges into opportunities that uplift countless communities for years to come.
The Legacy of Asialink Finance Corporation
Among the pioneering and very fast-growing financing companies in the Philippines is Asialink Finance Corporation. Its main goal is to provide accessible, fast, and convenient financing to MSMEs. The said move will then provide job opportunities for Filipinos addressing the unemployment issue in the country. “By supporting the growth of small Filipino-based businesses through financing, we are also yielding employment opportunities for Filipinos, fostering adequate solutions in reducing poverty and unemployment issues in the country,” Bobby says.
After having seen tremendous strategic growth, they then decided to shift focus to MSME lending. They concentrated more in the MSME sector wherein they were able to build up their expertise and had clearly helped them in succeeding significantly in the industry.
To this day, with 27 years of success in the financing sector, Asialink Finance Corporation is still one of the fast-growing companies with almost 2,000 employees and 250 branches all over the Philippines.
Moreover, it allows innovation to thrive through its aspect of allowing leaders the power and freedom to come up with particular strategies and initiatives relevant to achieving the goals of Asialink. Such an approach will help Asialink to stay ahead within the industry due to the continuous development and improvement of services provided.
Important Lesson Learned from Setbacks
Starting a business is never easy, and for Bobby, it was monumental. “Well, there were huge challenges starting the business. First of all, we didn’t have the capital. We started with only 3 million pesos. Next was with regard to the product. The initial product that we had was really difficult, and it took me one year to really understand it, especially the appliances financing. We made a lot of mistakes. It’s very difficult to start from zero—building the infrastructure, developing the loan system, and hiring the right people. Our office was really small; it could only fit two tables. When a customer came in, we had to stand up so that the loan processor or marketing person could sit at my table to entertain the customer,” he explained.
Reflecting on the early days, he narrated, “Well, in the very earliest days, my main concern was survival. That is, I worked on something that would eventually be profitable. It’s only after four or five years, when income started coming in, that I started to look at the longer-term vision. This gave me time to create new strategies. My background in the lending unit of a bank, particularly in the SME lending unit, biased my focus towards lending to MSMEs. Due to this, we have been able to surmount many challenges, one of which is credit collection. Now, because we know our business and our people can know it by heart, we can lend significantly and still collect effectively. We have been very successful in keeping our NPL ratio below 1%, and I think that’s a unique achievement for Asialink.”
The story of Asialink Finance Corporation narrates a lesson in perseverance, strategic planning, and a good support group. His vision and leadership didn’t only build a booming company; it has changed the whole financial landscape for MSMEs in the Philippines. Attention to detail is one of the primary lessons learned from these experiences, “The quality that has become a key factor in my success in the business world,” says Robert.
Leading by Example and Achievement
Under Bobby’s leadership, Asialink Finance Corporation’s team adopted the infusion of technology into their processes. With less paperwork, they facilitate the application process to fast-track approvals so that clients could avail of the funds they need to get by without too much hassle. “We strive to lead by example in leveraging technology for success and, in the process, inspire other organizations to follow suit,” says Robert.
He feels that the lending skills he has acquired in a local commercial bank, have been the main reasons behind his success as a leader. This has equipped him with the ability to conceptualize and manage a successful business organization.
In the case of Asialink Finance Corporation, the success was all started to Bobby. Some of the notable successes for him include securing an investment of close to 71 million USD investment from a foreign private equity investor in their company. He indicates that the amount injected means the investor bought an 18% stake in the business, which mainly signifies the victory of their business. He further comments that the large injection of the equity investor is a unique feature given that they initially had invested only 80,000 US dollars.
Responsibilities and Work-Life Balance
As the CEO of the Asialink Finance Corporation, Bobby makes sure that strategies in the organization should immediately attend to the company’s objectives; he also constantly monitors the relevancy of their strategies as market developments dictate. He shows that with his team, he continuously seeks new strategies for product innovation, exploring new markets, and moving in pace with market dynamics.
Bobby is not at all the centralizing kind of leader to have all the powers vested with himself. He knows the importance of creating a strong management team. He focuses more on strategic initiatives for MSMEs and the growth of the company with proper delegation. In this way, he maintains his work-life balance by practicing the same approach well.
Outside of work, Bobby is someone who values simplicity and remains humble, despite being a well-known entrepreneur. He values family time. He loves eating simple food prepared by his family. To him, the time they have together as a family count more than anything. Apart from spending time with his family, he relaxes on weekends by playing golf or reading books. He plays golf to improve his balance and flexibility, and reads extensively to expand his business knowledge. Additionally, he travels to different places with his Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) friends, conducting various community activities, such as outreach programs and disaster preparedness training.
“I am a proud member of the UP Vanguard Inc., my school-based organization dedicated to various social and civic activities like disaster relief efforts, blood donation drives, and scholarships. Our organization believes in the reinstatement of the ROTC program to instill disciple and nationalism among our youth. We believe that our country needs to be prepared at all times against foreign threats. I support the ideology of the organization and in fact devote my money to the same.” Bobby said.
He manages to keep his personal life aligned to his professional work to stay motivated and be an effective business leader. He considers motivation that he receives from his family, groups, and community to keep him going and blossom into a successful business leader. These inspirations in turn shape his leadership skills. “As a professional economist, I take pride in concluding the larger way that the Philippines has to catch up compared to our far wealthier neighbors. As a business leader, I shall swear to steadfastly pursue expanding our business for the benefit of achieving an improved economy for more Filipinos. This commitment motivates me to strive for excellence daily, as I believe our contributions can propel development and enable us to exceed the achievements of our neighbors,” he stated.
Vision and Plan for the Future
In the long term, Bobby and his Asialink team are looking to have a strong presence in the Philippine economy’s Non-Bank Financial Institution sector. They are eyeing to triple their business in the next 5 years.
“Our growth commitment is driven by our desire to serve more MSMEs. There remains a significant number of underserved MSMEs that we want to be able to finance”.
And toward 2033, Asialink Finance Corporation visualizes itself to be a leading financial institution pioneering in MSME financing, providing inclusive financial access to MSMEs, their communities, in the Philippines, and across Asia.
The Ultimate Objective
Robert’s ultimate objective is to establish a lasting legacy of a thriving company with steadfast values that will endure beyond his tenure as CEO. “I aim to cultivate a culture and discipline that will shape the company’s identity for years to come,” he says
