UnionBank of the Philippines chairperson Erramon "Montxu" I. Aboitiz, has taken on a pivotal role as the new chairperson of the board of trustees at the Asian Institute of Management from 1 September.

Aboitiz joins a group of accomplished business leaders who share an unwavering commitment to advancing the growth and well-being of Asia and its people as head of the institution.

Aboitiz is the 7th chairman of AIM succeeding Peter Garrucho who assumed the role in 2017.

He served as the president and CEO of Aboitiz Equity Ventures for a decade from 2009 to 2019, and briefly as the CEO of Aboitiz Power Corp. in 2018.

Civic leader role

Additionally, Aboitiz is a former trustee of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation before Aboitiz Group president and CEO Sabin Aboitiz assumed the same role.

Aboitiz earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Accounting and Finance from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, USA.

In 2011, he received the Management Man of the Year award from the Management Association of the Philippines and was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.

Seven years later,  AIM conferred an honorary doctorate degree in management on the business executive.

In 2019, the Aboitiz Group through its social responsibility arm the Aboitiz Foundation, made a $10-million donation to AIM, marked as the Aboitiz 100th Anniversary Commitment Fund.

The fund is being used to address the local and regional gap in data science and innovation.

With the donation, AIM's Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship conducts world-class teaching and research with real-world applications with data science professionals and leaders.