La Rioja is known worldwide for its wines, its gastronomy and its landscapes. Not for your financial sector. And yet, the best investment fund in Spain in 2022 has been run from Logroño. Also the best fund of 2021. And the one of 2020. For three consecutive years the capital of La Rioja has hosted the best investment vehicle in the country. How is it possible when Barcelona and Madrid concentrate more than 90% of the professionals in the asset management industry?
The profitability that these products have obtained is stratospheric. Three years ago, the Alcalá Multigestión Oricalco fund achieved a return of 157%, investing in companies linked to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. The following year added another 55% return for its participants.
When bitcoin and the rest of the virtual currencies deflated, they took away a good part of the industry and also funds such as Oricalco (which in 2022 lost 52% of its value). But another product piloted from the capital of La Rioja, the Alcalá Multigestión GARP, has taken over. Last year it rented 96% thanks to its commitment to companies in the oil sector. Once again La Rioja took the gold medal for investment.
The two funds, although very different in theme, share two very important characteristics. On the one hand, the asset manager: Creand Wealth Management. This firm is owned by the Andorran bank Crèdit Andorrà, which in Spain operated through its subsidiary Banco Alcalá and the management company Gesalcalá, which now uses the new brand. The second shared factor is that in both cases these are products that have an external consultant. What is this figure? These are products that are nominally managed by a fund management company, Gesalcalá SGIIC, which is in charge of everything related to regulatory compliance, but in which investment decisions are made by a person or company outside the manager.
In the case of the Oricalco fund, he is advised by the La Rioja firm Driemut, managed by Diego Bernabéu Ugarte. It is a financial startup. Meanwhile, the Alcalá Multigestión GARP is advised by Ignacio José Irigoyen Ramírez, a businessman from Logroño who has several companies related to tourist rental apartments.
According to financial sources from Logroño, the promoter of these vehicles is a private banker from Creand, Pedro Marín. “It is he who has proposed to various individuals interested in the world of investment the power to become Gesalcalá fund advisers,” he commented.
From Creand Wealth Management they prefer to leave the advisers of these funds in the background, who in both cases have little assets: 3.4 million euros for Oricalco and 17 million euros for GARP.
Luis Buceta, Creand’s investment director, explains that “a fund like Alcalá Multigestión GARP is a very specific product, with a very delicate investment policy and is not designed for any type of investor.”
The GARP adviser, after 12 months with very powerful positions in oil prospecting companies, in shipping companies specializing in natural gas and in gold mining companies, has been rotating his portfolio. Now, his main position is the Galician photovoltaic company EIDF, which is listed on BME Growth and has a market capitalization close to 1,600 million euros, after a 478% revaluation last year.
His investment methodology is to buy companies that are posting strong growth in their accounts, but are still trading at reasonable prices.
How are these vehicles?
- Orichalcum. It is a fund specialized in the new industry that has arisen around cryptocurrencies. Invest in companies specialized in data storage and processing, for the mining of these digital assets. Also in intermediation platforms or consultants for the development of this type of product.
- GARP. The collective investment institution with the highest profitability in Spain last year, practically doubling its net asset value in 12 months, has achieved this in a year of falling in almost all the variable income markets. His adviser has achieved it by betting everything on the oil sector, along with all its auxiliary industry, as well as some companies specialized in gold extraction.
#mystery #Logroño #years #investment #fund #Spain