Fernando Zobel de Ayala has been elected as a member of the board of director of Ayala Corp. (AC) in his return to the conglomerate following his medical leave last year.
Zobel replaced the company’s trusted adviser, Mercedita S. Nolledo, who will now focus on her roles in the different business units of the Ayala group.
Nolledo will continue to serve as a member of the board of trustees of Ayala Foundation Inc. and BPI Foundation Inc. She is also a member of the BPI advisory council.
Zobel, meanwhile, has been appointed chairman of the sustainability committee and member of the risk management and related party transactions committee and the personnel and compensation committee.
“I look forward to working with the board, the senior management of Ayala Corp., and our chief sustainability officer Jaime Z. Urquijo in providing oversight and guidance on the company’s ESG strategy,” Zobel said.
Zobel previously served as Ayala’s president and CEO from April 2021 to September 2022 and board director from May 1994 to September 2022. During his term as CEO, Zobel took the lead in strengthening Ayala’s sustainability commitment.
In 2021, Ayala committed to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, becoming the first publicly listed company in the Philippines to make such a commitment.
“The Ayala community welcomes Fernando back to the Board of Ayala Corporation,” Cezar Consing, Ayala’s president and CEO, said. “Fernando brings with him a wealth of experience, and we look forward to his guidance and oversight as we continue to ramp up our ESG initiatives.”
Ayala’s board elected Consing, former BPI chief executive, as the company’s president and CEO in September 2022, following the step down of Zobel from the post.
Consing was re-elected as president and CEO during the board’s organizational meeting after the company’s annual stockholders meeting in April.
Ayala Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala thanked 82-year-old Nolledo for her contributions during her tenure as board director from September 2022 to September 2023.
“I would like to thank Edith Nolledo for her consistent support and guidance through the many years she worked with the Ayala group as an executive and a member of the Board,” he said.
Since late 2022, Fernando has transitioned from his executive roles to focus on his governance functions in various boards within the Ayala group.
