Long before Jaime González became known as the founder of property developer Arthaland, he had already built a career that took him from banking and accounting to international consulting, government service and investment banking.
His professional journey included working closely with businessman Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin, becoming a partner at SGV at a young age, managing the firm’s advisory operations in Hong Kong and negotiating trade agreements with governments in communist countries during the Cold War.
He would later help establish an investment bank backed by American International Group (AIG), gaining experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing and investment management.
What makes González’s career particularly interesting is that he did not follow a conventional path within a single profession. Although he trained as an accountant, he repeatedly accepted responsibilities that required him to develop expertise beyond his original qualifications.
His experience offers several lessons for young professionals who want to build successful careers in business and finance.
Building a strong professional foundation
González began his professional career at Far East Bank after graduating from college.
However, after working for less than two years, he decided to pursue further education in the United States.
Before leaving, he prepared for the Certified Public Accountant examination while continuing to work.
“After college, I worked for Far East Bank, but after less than two years, I decided to take my MBA in the United States,” González says. “Well, before starting my MBA, I did my CPA review at night and was able to take the CPA exam. I went on leave for one month, and after passing the CPA, I pursued my MBA in the United States.”
His decision to pursue both the CPA qualification and an MBA gave him two complementary foundations for his future career.
Accounting provided the technical knowledge needed to understand financial statements, business performance and financial controls.
An MBA, meanwhile, offered a broader perspective on management, strategy and business decision-making.
The combination was particularly valuable because it allowed González to approach business problems from both a financial and managerial perspective.
For young professionals, his experience demonstrates the importance of developing skills that complement rather than simply duplicate existing qualifications.
An accountant who understands business strategy, for example, can contribute beyond financial reporting. Similarly, a finance professional who understands operations and management can participate more effectively in strategic decisions.
Working with Bobby Ongpin
While González was studying in the United States, an unexpected opportunity emerged.
Bobby Ongpin, who knew his father, contacted him and invited him to return to Manila to work at SGV, one of the country’s leading accounting and professional services firms.
González initially joined as Ongpin’s assistant.
“Then while in the US, Bobby Ongpin reached out to me because he knew my father, and he told me that I come back to Manila and work at SGV, initially as his assistant. I worked closely with Bobby, and after about two years, I became partner at SGV. I was very young.”
Becoming a partner after approximately two years was an unusually rapid progression, particularly for someone still early in his professional career.
Although his father’s relationship with Ongpin helped create the opportunity, González still had to establish himself within a demanding professional environment.
Working directly with a senior executive exposed him to responsibilities and decisions that would ordinarily take younger professionals much longer to encounter.
However, González acknowledges that working with Ongpin was not easy.
“But it was tough. I mean, Bobby was not an easy guy to work with. He and I got along with each other, so we worked together as partners.”
His experience illustrates how working with demanding leaders can accelerate professional development.
Such environments often require individuals to learn quickly, exercise judgment under pressure and accept responsibilities beyond their formal job descriptions.
The advantage is that young professionals can acquire experience at a much faster pace than they might in positions with narrowly defined responsibilities.
However, exposure alone does not guarantee career advancement. Professionals must also demonstrate that they can meet expectations and deliver results.
For González, his ability to work effectively with Ongpin eventually led to another important assignment.
Moving beyond accounting
At a certain point, Ongpin asked González to manage SGV’s operations in Hong Kong.
The assignment involved the firm’s management services division, which focused on advisory work rather than traditional accounting.
“But it was tough. I mean, Bobby was not an easy guy to work with. He and I got along with each other, so we worked together as partners. At a certain point, he said, ‘Why don’t you run the SGV office in Hong Kong?’ So I ran what was then the management services side, which was called the advisory side. Although I was obviously a CPA, I took care of the other side. So out of Hong Kong, I was running around the region, advising companies all over on different things.”
The move represented a significant expansion of his professional responsibilities.
Instead of concentrating on accounting matters, González began advising businesses across Asia on different management and financial issues.
His CPA qualification remained valuable, but it was no longer the principal description of the work he performed.
This transition highlights an important distinction between professional qualifications and career opportunities.
A qualification may provide the technical foundation needed to enter a profession, but long-term career advancement often depends on the ability to apply that knowledge to broader business problems.
For example, an accountant who understands financial statements can evaluate a company’s historical performance.
But an adviser who combines accounting knowledge with strategic thinking can help management assess acquisitions, restructuring opportunities and investment decisions.
By moving into advisory work, González expanded the range of business problems he could address.
His Hong Kong assignment also exposed him to different markets and business environments, strengthening his ability to operate internationally.
From corporate advisory to international trade
González’s career took another unexpected turn when Ongpin entered government service.
In 1983, Ongpin invited him to return to Manila and become one of his deputies at the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
González accepted the assignment and became responsible for the Philippine International Trading Corporation, as well as trade negotiations with socialist and centrally planned economies.
“Then one day, he spoke to me and told me that he had been sworn in by Marcos to be Minister of Trade and Industry. He said, ‘Why don’t you come and help me as one of my deputies?’ So I went back to Manila in 1983, and I was in charge of what was called the trading company of the government, PITC. I was also in charge of the trade negotiations with the socialist and other centrally planned economies. I set up an office in Beijing, and I had an office in Moscow. I used to travel to Eastern Europe all the time to negotiate with the governments there. It was fun because that was before, when it was still the Soviet Union, before what was called perestroika.”
The assignment placed González in a very different environment from the private-sector advisory work he had previously handled.
Instead of advising companies on business decisions, he was negotiating with foreign governments and dealing with economies where commercial activity was heavily controlled by the state.
His work took him to China, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during a period when economic and political systems were considerably different from those in market-oriented economies.
For a professional trained in accounting and business management, the experience required a broader understanding of international trade, government policies and economic relationships.
It also exposed him to negotiations where commercial objectives had to be considered alongside political and diplomatic factors.
This stage of his career demonstrates the value of accepting assignments that initially appear outside one’s specialization.
Although González’s earlier experience was in accounting and corporate advisory, the financial and analytical skills he had developed could also be applied to international trade negotiations.
At the same time, his government experience gave him a perspective on business that would have been difficult to acquire through private-sector employment alone.
Building an investment bank with AIG
After his experience in government, González returned to the private sector and became involved in establishing an investment banking business.
In 1988, he and Ongpin approached American International Group, one of the world’s major insurance organizations, with a proposal to create an investment bank.
They convinced AIG chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg that the group’s insurance operations could benefit from access to investment opportunities beyond traditional fixed-income securities.
“Then in 1988, he said, ‘Why don’t we put together an investment bank?’ And we were able to convince the chairman of AIG at the time, Hank Greenberg, Mr. Maurice Greenberg, who is very well known internationally, that the insurance company of AIG needed to look at other instruments to invest in.”
The proposal was based on an important principle of investment management: investors may be able to improve returns by identifying opportunities where risks can be properly evaluated and controlled.
González explains that insurance companies traditionally preferred highly rated bonds because of their relatively low risk.
“Traditionally, insurance companies are very conservative. They put money in AAA bonds and get AAA returns, which are low risk but also low return. So we said, ‘Hey, if we can package deals appropriately, we should be able to control the risk and get a higher return.’ That’s how we created an investment bank, which we called AIA Capital. AIA is the name of AIG in Asia.”
The idea was to structure investments that could potentially generate higher returns while managing the risks involved.
This required more than simply selecting investments with attractive yields.
Investment bankers had to evaluate the underlying assets, assess the financial capacity of borrowers or business partners and determine how transactions could be structured to protect investors.
For insurance companies, which must manage long-term obligations to policyholders, the balance between risk and return is particularly important.
The establishment of AIA Capital gave González an opportunity to apply his experience in corporate advisory and international business to a new area of finance.
Learning how businesses create value
AIG became the majority shareholder of AIA Capital, while González and Ongpin held a combined 40 percent minority interest.
The investment bank established operations across the region and became involved in different types of corporate transactions.
“They had the majority, while Bobby and I had a 40 percent minority in the company, and we had offices all over the region. After that, we did various things. I was doing general advisory work, but most of it involved mergers and acquisitions or rearranging funding for projects, either debt or equity.”
Through these transactions, González gained experience in evaluating companies, structuring investments and arranging financing.
Mergers and acquisitions require investors to determine how much a business is worth and whether its future earnings justify the purchase price.
Project financing involves assessing whether an investment can generate enough cash flow to repay debt and provide an acceptable return to shareholders.
Debt and equity financing also require different considerations because lenders and shareholders assume different levels of risk.
These activities exposed González to the financial decisions that influence how companies expand, restructure and create value.
His involvement in investment banking eventually brought him into contact with real estate transactions, including projects in the Philippines and other Asian markets.
That experience would later become important when he began identifying opportunities in property development.
Why career success requires continuous reinvention
Looking at González’s career, one striking characteristic is how frequently he moved beyond the responsibilities associated with his original profession.
He began in banking, qualified as a CPA and pursued an MBA.
He then joined SGV, became a partner at a young age and moved into international management advisory work.
From there, he entered government service, negotiated trade arrangements with centrally planned economies and later helped establish an investment bank backed by a major international insurance group.
Each transition required him to apply existing knowledge while developing new capabilities.
His experience suggests that professional growth is not simply a matter of accumulating years in a particular position.
It also depends on the variety and complexity of the problems an individual learns to solve.
A professional who performs the same responsibilities for many years may develop considerable expertise in a narrow area.
But someone who combines technical knowledge with experience in management, international business and investment decisions can develop a broader understanding of how organizations operate.
This does not mean that changing careers frequently is necessarily beneficial.
The more important consideration is whether each new responsibility builds on previous experience and increases an individual’s ability to contribute.
For González, his accounting background provided the financial foundation for his subsequent work.
His experience with Ongpin introduced him to demanding leadership responsibilities, while his international assignments exposed him to different business environments.
His government service broadened his understanding of trade and economic relationships, and investment banking strengthened his knowledge of capital allocation and corporate transactions.
These experiences eventually positioned him to pursue opportunities as an investor and entrepreneur.
Long before founding Arthaland, González had already learned how to evaluate businesses, negotiate complex transactions, arrange financing and work with partners across different countries.
His career demonstrates that professional qualifications can open the first door, but long-term advancement often depends on the willingness to keep learning and take on responsibilities beyond one’s original field.
For young professionals, the lesson is to view their careers not merely as a sequence of promotions, but as an opportunity to accumulate skills and experiences that expand what they are capable of doing.
