Named after a Galician river, they are attracting a million-dollar flow of investment from many large Spanish estates. They are the so-called “free investment companies” (SIL), which are quietly emerging as an alternative to the famous SICAVs after the tightening of the legal regime for these collective investment vehicles.
The number of registered SICAVs has plummeted in recent years, after the reinforcement of controls on them. At the end of the first quarter, there were 442 left, compared to more than 2,300 in 2021, according to the latest data available from the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Many billionaires have chosen to open SICAVs in Luxembourg and some have opted for SILs. The numbers are still modest (until March there were 61, according to the latest official data), but they have almost tripled in just two years.
These firms allow you to invest in any asset or derivative financial instrument: shares, public debt, real estate or even works of art. They have the advantage of paying 1% corporate tax. They require a minimum investment of 100,000 euros (reserved for professional investors) and at least 25 participants, while the SICAVs required 100 participants with a minimum of 2,500 euros each to pay taxes at 1%, which encouraged the use of so-called mariachis (investors straw). By having their own legal personality (they are public limited companies), SILs can borrow up to five times their assets.
These vehicles have been in operation for many years. But they have only begun to grow in parallel with the decline of SICAVs. In some cases, the figures they have invested are already in the hundreds of millions. One of the last to arrive stands out by far, Turqueta Gestión, owned by Leopoldo del Pino, a Ferrovial shareholder (he retains about 4%), son of the founder of the construction company and who already owned a SICAV in February 2021. in Luxembourg, in a move that his brother and president of Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino, has just imitated, after taking his Dutch holding company to the Grand Duchy after moving the construction company’s headquarters there.
Turqueta was registered in December 2023 and accumulated 482.6 million assets as of June. Leopoldo del Pino has 99.89% of this SIL through his property Siemprelara. On January 5, he injected 295.4 million, according to his latest accounts, available through Insight View. As of June, Turqueta did not meet this requirement of having at least 25 shareholders. It only had two, although it was within the deadline to comply with the regulations.
The second SIL with the most assets, 230.8 million, is Austral Capital, SIL, owned by the Abelló family. Chaired by Miguel Abelló Gamazo, son of the octogenarian magnate Juan Abelló. “Currently Austral Capital SIL has two significant shareholders who represent 67.25% and 29.65% (96.90% in total) of SIL’s assets,” it explains in its latest quarterly report. Registered in July 2021, it is integrated into Grupo Nueva Compañía de Inversiones, it says in its 2022 accounts, the latest available in the CNMV.
In third place is Boysep Investiment SIL, SA, owned by Catalan José Llorens Torrá, owner of the construction company Epsa and the Llotor holding company, owner of more than 80 companies in several countries. Llorens is the first fortune in Lleida, according to Forbes, with a net worth of 900 million. The latest El Mundo ranking places him as the 37th richest person in Spain. Its SIL accumulated more than 137 million until June.
Next, another of the last to arrive, Masira Inversión, linked to the Medina family, owner of the Sevillian technological and agricultural holding Medina Garvey and the duchy of Santisteban. It was created on March 8 and by June it had 113.13 million assets. It is the successor of his old sicav, which had the same name, Masira (like an atoll of 650 square kilometers on the coast of Oman) and was the most profitable in Spain, as he said. Five Days in February.
That month, RHO Investments, SIL, was launched, which as of June managed almost 90 million. It is managed by those responsible for the Auriga management company, headed by Rodrigo Hernando (owner of 58.27%), along with the other two partners of that firm, the well-known Valencian fruit and vegetable businessman Enrique Martinavarro and Íñigo Resusta.
Hernando, who was involved in the Malaya corruption case in Marbella (he was even accused of money laundering and was acquitted), worked many years ago at Intermoney, the securities agency from which, among others, the then vice president of the CNMV came. Carlos Arenillas. The latter presides over the oldest SIL registered in the regulator’s records, Equilibria Investments, which dates back to 2011 and had 6.5 million assets in June.
Another name closely linked to the financial world is Fernando Gumuzio, founder of the Azora real estate fund, one of the largest property holders in Spain. His company Berango Viento SL is behind the SIL Plaza de Colón Inversiones, created in November 2022 and with 37.4 million. Another example is José María Echarri, brain of the venture capital firm Inveready. His company The Nimos Holding SL controls Prestige Inversiones, registered in December 2022 and with 21.3 million assets.
With almost 82 million is one of the oldest SILs, Belona Inversiones Financieras. Registered in 2014, it belongs to the Isidro Rincón family, former owners of the Europac paper mill and owners of the Ibervalles real estate company, whose advisor was Judge Vicente Gilarte until his appointment as president of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).
Semi-unknown
With 74.47 million is All You Need Is Love Tech Capital, registered in March 2022. At the end of 2023, its largest shareholder was Axpe Cartera SL, owned by businessman Manuel Revuelta, founder of the Madrid technology consultancy Axpe. Revuelta is among the dozens of little-known millionaires who have opted for SIL in recent years.
Polo Capital, from the Polo family, owners of the Sevillian real estate company Viapol, stands out for its volume of assets, and which closed June with almost 70 million. Or Finlar Inversión, registered in May 2022, with almost 50 million assets. At the end of 2023, it had 94.32% of its shares in the hands of Inverlasa, owned by the couple formed by Víctor Ruiz and Rosario Lafita.
Ruiz, the main shareholder of Azkoyen, founder of the bankrupt Eurofinsa engineering company and with strong interests in Madrid brick, is a trustee along with, among others, Javier Fernández-Lasquetty, of Civismo, an ultra-liberal think tank that celebrates “the day of fiscal liberation ”, compares Pedro Sánchez to a Nazi and finances ultra-rich people like Abelló, Ruiz or Helena Revoredo. The owner of Prosegur also has its own SIL, Freecap Investment, SIL. It was created in March 2021 and currently manages about 12 million.
Much less known are the Martínezes, after the Canarian group Martínez Abolafio, linked to construction or tourism and with an intense relationship with Equatorial Guinea. They have two SILs registered in July 2014, Majestic Inversiones Financieras and Infimar Inversiones Financieras. As of June, they had assets of almost 41 million.
Several families have set up SIL with the capital gains obtained after selling their companies. This is the case of Roberto Ayuso, former owner of several Seur franchises, today owned by the French group Geopost. His company Cansevi SL had 98.65% of SIL Invercansevi at the end of 2023, with 23.7 million assets as of June. Enrolled in December 2022.
Another case is Néstor Oller, heir to the Catalan pharmaceutical company Prodesfarma, today owned by Almirall, and owner of 8% of AC Hoteles, with a fortune of 205 million, according to El Mundo. It is after Jungleland Value SIL, with 20.3 million assets. Also closely linked to Catalonia is Alejandro Guerrero Kandler, one of the businessmen investigated for alleged money laundering in the Pujol case. He is the sole administrator of Agi Hotels, which at the end of 2023 had 88.9% of Patkanga Quality Investments SIL, registered in October 2023 and with 14.7 million assets as of June.
There are several SILs linked to the Basque business aristocracy. 24.2 million is held by one of the most recent, Txiluagi SIL. Registered in February, it is chaired by Jorge Aguirre, brother-in-law of industrialist Cosme Delclaux, kidnapped by ETA in 1996 and released after 232 days of captivity. Another case is Euskadi Inversiones Selectivas, SIL, managed by four children of the Basque industrialist José María Egaña, founder of Krafft lubricants, kidnapped by ETA in 1986 and died in 2020. It was registered in February 2023 and has a net worth of 14.7 millions.
Around 10 million is Tormes Inversiones 2019, chaired by Francisca Orozco, who according to CNMV records is linked to Óscar Fanjul, new non-executive president of Cellnex, vice president of Ferrovial and former president of Repsol. In this SIL, a natural person held 75.14% at the end of 2023, according to the information available at the CNMV.
With 9.8 million, Rank Inversiones, owned by the Colomer family, owners of the real estate company Pryconsa, is in 35th place in the ranking of rich Spaniards, with an estimated net worth of 1,560 million. With 7.1 million is Terra Blava Global, created in 2023 and managed by companies of brothers Antonio and David Sánchez Sotillos, entrepreneurs in the music festival sector, and Enrique Selva, founder and CEO of the Valencian renewable group Umbrella Solar .
In the last month alone, four companies of this type have been registered with the CNMV. Azahar Inversiones Capital stands out, chaired by Juan Ignacio Conesa Alcaraz, co-owner of the Murcia road transport group Primafrío and with a family fortune estimated at around 1.5 billion. Registered on September 20, it started with an initial capital of 100 million. The maximum has been set at 1,000 million.
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