In professional services, relationships are currency, trust is the product, and talent is the engine. Michael C. Sabado will now be responsible for keeping all three working in SGV & Co.’s favor.
The accounting and professional services firm has named Sabado chairman and country managing partner, succeeding Rossana A. Fajardo effective November 3, 2026. His mandate: strengthen client relationships, bring service lines closer together and develop the people expected to deliver the firm’s next phase of growth.
Sabado is hardly a newcomer to the business. An assurance partner with more than three decades of professional experience, he joined SGV in 1993, giving him a long view of how companies, industries and client expectations have evolved.
His previous role as client relationship leader for core accounts placed him at the intersection of client retention and business development, overseeing initiatives to deepen strategic relationships and support growth across markets and industries. He also co-headed SGV’s Japan Business Services, working with Japanese investors and multinational companies operating in the Philippines.
That cross-border experience could prove useful as companies navigate investment decisions, regulatory demands and changing business conditions. Sabado has advised local and multinational organizations across automotive, real estate, manufacturing, insurance, construction, aviation, renewable energy and hospitality — a client roster spanning sectors with markedly different risks and growth cycles.
But running a professional services firm requires more than technical expertise and an extensive address book. Its business depends heavily on retaining institutional knowledge, developing future leaders and ensuring clients continue to see value in the relationship.
Sabado has supported talent development and leadership succession, advocating a workplace culture built on respect, openness, integrity, accountability and collaboration. Those priorities will matter as much internally as the firm’s external growth ambitions.
A certified public accountant, Sabado holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in Accounting from San Beda University.
His appointment puts a veteran insider at the helm. The challenge now is turning decades of experience into the next generation of client confidence — and ensuring the firm’s people grow alongside its ambitions.
