La Caixa and its "prodigious" history
The foundation's general director, Josep Maria Coronas, calls for a legal framework that makes it easier for entities to enter the social housing sector.
BarcelonaA "prodigious" history. This is how the general director of the La Caixa Foundation, Josep Maria Coronas (Tarragona, 1959), described the institution during a conversation held at the Círculo de Economía with the outgoing president, Jaume Guardiola. This was one of his first public appearances since taking office on January 1st. This state lawyer, a disciple of his father and experienced in both the public and private sectors, defended the foundation's social role. "There is growing inequality and a progressively shrinking middle class. State transfers redistribute wealth, without which poverty would reach 50%, but they don't reach everyone, and a foundation like La Caixa can contribute a drop of water to reduce inequality," he explained.
Coronas, who is also secretary of the foundation's board of trustees and of the board of directors of Criteria, the entity's investment arm that funds social work with dividends from its portfolio of business investments—the largest in Spain—attributed the group's structure to a "stroke of genius" by the president. CaixaBank is one of the largest holdings, along with Naturgy and Telefónica.
He explained to an auditorium full of business leaders and executives that La Caixa maintains its founding objectives from the early 20th century, but has "managed to adapt" to today's world, "with an impact on society of extraordinary importance." In fact, he emphasized that every euro contributed by a group customer ends up being multiplied by four. He has built one of the most important social projects in the world. And he has done so by integrating more than 86 entities since 1904, among which Caixa de Barcelona stands out in the 1990s and Bankia four years ago.
This year, the allocation for social work is 655 million, with the goal of reaching an annual budget of 800 million by 2030, according to the strategic plan presented a few days ago. Although, he added, President Fainé—who also heads the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), through which he tries to globalize the social work model—aspires to achieve "more." Asked about social housing, Coronas called for a favorable legal framework to create the conditions for entities such as La Caixa to enter this activity.
The new strategic plan is committed to better coordination with Criteria, from which the CEO, Àngel Simón, was dismissed a few weeks ago. Now, the president of Naturgy, Francisco Reynés, is the first vice president and has submitted investments for review carried out by the previous CEO. According to Coronas, "there must be constant synergies between the foundation and Criteria, because they are two sides of the same coin."