Ayala Land Inc. on Tuesday said Anna Maria Margarita B. Dy as the company’s new president and CEO effective October, making her the first female chief executive of the country’s second largest property developer.
The 54-year-old CEO will replace Bernard Vincent O. Dy, who retires from Ayala Land after 26 years in the company.
Bobby Dy, 59, has been the company’s president and CEO since April 7, 2014.
Effective October 1, Bobby will take on a new role as senior advisor to Ayala Land Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.
In a letter sent to employees, Zobel said Bobby helped Ayala Land maintain a strong balance sheet which enabled the company to recover from the challenges of the pandemic.
“During the pandemic years, Bobby guaranteed the health and safety of our employees, and supported our merchants, suppliers and the local communities we operated in. He was at the forefront of our sustainability initiatives as he boldly implemented a 5-year plan to achieve carbon neutrality for our commercial properties, which we achieved 1 year ahead of the target,” Zobel said.
He also expressed his trust and high confidence in the company’s newly appointed chief executive.
“Meean’s extensive experience encompasses pivotal leadership roles within the strategic landbank management group. She played a key role in launching critical projects in our portfolio, such as BGC, Nuvali, Vertis and Arca South. Her journey continued as she led the residential business group and, more recently, assumed leadership over the malls, offices and the hotels and resorts group.”
Ayala said it practices deliberate succession planning across its business units. “The next-generation leaders are given exposure to the entire Ayala ecosystem.”
Upon her appointment as executive vice president of the company since January and COO since April, Meean had since been included in the regular meetings of the Ayala group management committee and involved in key decisions concerning the entire ecosystem.
“With Meean at the helm, I am confident that Ayala Land will continue to have meaningful impact in all the lives and communities we touch,” Zobel said.
Prior to joining Ayala Land, she was vice president of Benpres Holdings Corp., now Lopez Holdings Corp. She graduated magna cum laude from the Ateneo De Manila University’s Economic Honors Program in 1990. She earned her master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1991 and MBA at Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Boston in 1996.
