Investing for the Long Term

CHAPTER 2Going Solo (1991–2002)

1991–1998: I START INVESTING. BULL MARKET

Meanwhile, movements were afoot at Bestinver. Over the course of 1990, our diversification arm began to lose steam and at the start of 1991 the team in charge, led by José Ignacio Benjumea, upped sticks to set up a private equity project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Jorge Mataix and Luis Gabarda stayed behind as co-director generals. Santos Martínez-Conde, the head of analysis and portfolio management, also went with them. I mustered the nerve to ask the two co-directors whether I could take over responsibility for managing the Bestinver portfolios.

I felt I was capable of rising to the challenge, after having spent a year studying the Spanish stock market and analysing nearly all the key sectors. Luckily, there was not a lot of money to manage, which meant it wasn't completely preposterous for me to take on the responsibility – some two or three million euros, if memory serves me. If the amount had been larger it would have been unthinkable for them to entrust me with this responsibility; I was only 27 years old, with just a year of experience under my belt.

Despite some reluctance on the part of José María Entrecanales, who saw a certain ‘wetness behind the ears’, they conceded and I started life as an asset manager in 1991.

That same year we launched our first fund, Tibestfond. It was a cash fund that never amounted to much and later became Bestinver Renta, offering a decent alternative service ...