Investing for the Long Term

CHAPTER 3Investing as a Team (2003–2014)

2003: A NEW MANAGER

2003 ushered in another milestone. After 13 years of going it alone, the asset management team doubled in size. We went from being one asset manager to two.

To be fair, Mario Serna had been supporting me as an analyst for nearly two years, but he didn't have any prior experience and was still learning the ropes. Over the years, a number of analysts had done an excellent job for Bestinver Securities and the equity broker, but they focused on analysis for foreign clients who invested through the securities brokerage. I was involved in hiring some of them and even managed them at times, but they were all young graduates who helped me only intermittently and on specific issues, for example making the case for the valuation of Endesa and its subsidiaries. Their main job was supporting the broker rather than the asset manager.

I confess that I made a mistake with Mario, which I may have been guilty of in the past and later on too. I led by example, without setting aside time to specifically instruct him or apply a coherent approach. This might have been enough for some people – I think the young people who spent time on the asset management side had a satisfactory experience – but perhaps it was not for everyone. This might be why Mario decided to call it a day when Álvaro arrived. Fortunately, he turned out to be the only departure from the asset management analysis team over the next 10 years.

The decision to take on ...