Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
E09 - Ana Laura Fernández, Vice President of Impact Investing at Fondo de Fondos
60 Plays19 days ago
In this episode of Women Changing Finance, Ana Laura Fernández, Vice President of Impact Investing at Fondo de Fondos, where she leads a $70 million Latin America Impact Fund, talks about building Mexico’s impact investing ecosystem.
The conversation dives into how her fund supports both emerging venture capital managers and direct co-investments across Latin America, targeting sectors like youth employment, sustainable agriculture, and climate innovation. Ana Laura shares how her team helps early-stage funds grow, why results-based contracts are gaining traction in Mexico, and how her role as Chair of the GSG’s National Partner in Mexico is helping elevate the country’s profile on the global stage.
This episode is rich with real-world examples — from supporting rural artisans through ethical fashion to scaling diabetes clinics that transform lives. Ana Laura also opens up about being one of the few women in investment leadership in Mexico, and how that perspective helped her champion deals others might have missed. It’s a conversation about courage, trust, and reimagining what finance can do — one investment at a time.
Please review the episode, share your feedback and subscribe to the podcast!
You can also:
- Visit our website: womenchangingfinance.org
- Read Ana Laura's full bio
- Follow Ana Laura on LinkedIn
To go further here are some of the references mentioned during the episode:
- AMEXCAP https://amexcap.com/
- Alianza por la inversión de impacto México https://aiimx.com.mx/
- Banco Nacional de México | Citibanamex https://www.banamex.com/
- Sonen Capital https://sonencapital.com/
- The Yield Lab Latam https://theyieldlablatam.com/
- World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit https://worldagritechinnovation.com/
- Someone Somewhere https://someonesomewhere.com/
- Nacional Financiera https://www.nafin.com/
- National Institute of the Entrepreneur (INADEM)
- Fondo de Fondos Mexico https://www.fondodefondos.com.mx/
- Grupo Bimbo https://www.grupobimbo.com/
- SOCAP https://socapglobal.com/
- FLII https://flii.org/
- GSG Impact GLM 2024
- Kauffman Fellows https://www.kauffmanfellows.org/
- Clinicas del Azucar https://clinicasdelazucar.com/
- Book: The Women of Lemuria by Monika Muranyi https://editions-ariane.com/en/book/women-of-lemuria-the
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:05
Speaker
Hi! Welcome to the podcast Women Changing Finance, where you will discover amazing women from all around the world who are making finance become a force for good.
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast, Women Changing Finance. I'm Krisztina Torra, and I'm welcoming today Ana Laura Fernandez. She's the Vice President of Impact Investing of Fondo de Fondos, where she's responsible for the Impact Strategy and the LATAM Impact Fund, with more than 70 million US dollars of assets under their management.
00:00:40
Speaker
She's a seasoned investor and finance professional with a true passion for creating social and environmental impact.
Impact Investing in Mexico
00:00:47
Speaker
I met Ana Lara two years ago when she became the president of the Alianza por la Inversión de Impacto en Mexico, the national partner of GSG Impact in Mexico, with the mission of expanding the impact ecosystem in Mexico.
00:01:00
Speaker
I've been truly inspired by the mix of grace and gravitas that she brings to driving national initiatives in Mexico, infusing them with expertise and a collaborative spirit.
00:01:12
Speaker
I'm therefore absolutely thrilled to have her on the show today. Thank you for joining Ana Laura. And before we go further, i would love to hear from you. What does the impact ecosystem look like in Mexico?
00:01:24
Speaker
What are the trends? How has it evolved? Who are the key players? It would be really interesting for the audience to hear from you on that. Thank you so much, Krisztina. First of all, I'm really thrilled to be here. I'm really happy.
00:01:38
Speaker
Thank you for this invitation and having this space to speak a little bit more about impact investing and in Mexico and what we're doing. So in Mexico, we're developing and growing.
00:01:52
Speaker
I cannot say it's a consolidated ecosystem, but we have been growing both in venture capital and also results-based contracts.
00:02:04
Speaker
So first I will speak about venture capital, that it's more my expertise, but I have also worked with result-based contracts.
Partnerships and Initiatives
00:02:12
Speaker
So the venture capital industry in Mexico is quite recent.
00:02:17
Speaker
If you see information from Amex Cap, that is the Association of Private Capitals in Mexico, there were only between nine and 10 funds in 2010. For the year 2018, already 80.
00:02:30
Speaker
But nowadays we have 154. we already had eighty but nowadays we have one hundred and fifty four So venture capital is just starting as an initiative as well.
00:02:44
Speaker
And it was really, really wonderful for me to know that this innovation that can be started with venture capital could also transition to do good for people and good for the environment.
00:02:57
Speaker
So i met Sonen Capital, that is our partner for this initiative, and they have been impact investors for a while. And they have been teaching us a lot of what it means to do this in innovation, but for have a better quality of life of people and also to take care of the environment.
00:03:18
Speaker
We have been growing in this and more and more traditional funds are transitioning into impact investing. I have an example here in Mexico, like the first fund of venture capital, or if it's not the first, it's the second, is now a climate fund.
00:03:35
Speaker
Their last fund is a climate fund. So they started only looking for returns. And nowadays, with being more into what is driving all the world, they decided to transition into climate.
Youth Employment and Social Challenges
00:03:52
Speaker
In the results-based contracts, we have been working in several initiatives and there is one that is just launching now for youth employment in the north part of Mexico, in Monterrey.
00:04:06
Speaker
So we are really thrilled and we will be announcing it very soon. that it worked and it is a reality. So that's really super interesting. Can you say a bit more about this contract? Who is involved? How is it set up?
00:04:21
Speaker
Who will benefit from it? Yes, yes, of course. So it is related with the government of Nuevo León, but several institutions that have been working and trying to promote These result-based contracts are working together like at Citi Banamex.
00:04:40
Speaker
They have been really good in the in helping the environment. They are also sponsors of La Alianza and they have been pushing to have this as a reality.
00:04:52
Speaker
This contract will be launched with the government and the government is the one who at the end will pay for it. if the results are done. And in terms of the youth, how are they selected or brought into the project?
00:05:07
Speaker
Okay, so young people who are able to find a job that gives them a better quality of life will be registered. And if after some time, they continue with the job because it's not only getting the job, but also the continuance of it.
00:05:28
Speaker
And the quality of the job, right? Yes, the quality and the permanence, because it's important for them to keep this job. It's not like, OK, you hired someone and just came, but also to have some continuity.
00:05:42
Speaker
Amazing. And how easy or how hard is it in your view to drive social and environmental change in Mexico? Perhaps you can say more about what sort of social business or what sort of topics are really important to be addressed in Mexico.
00:05:56
Speaker
That would be quite interesting as well. We have many, many opportunities in Mexico because something that needs to be shown is that there is ah still a lot of inequality.
00:06:07
Speaker
So a lot of people do not have access to health care. A lot of people do not have access even to food, to food security. We still have people dying from hunger. And that, for me, is something that cannot happen.
00:06:21
Speaker
We also have a challenge in allocat education and more because of the pandemic. A lot of students went out of schools and a lot of them lost a lot in learning because they did not have all the tools and everything that they needed to continue.
00:06:38
Speaker
So we have challenges in financial inclusion as well.
Renewable Energy and Innovation
00:06:43
Speaker
A lot of women, more women than men do not have access to any credit. So that is something that also we're working on.
00:06:51
Speaker
And you know that Mexico in the environment part, Mexico is one of the countries with more sunlight and we should be using it. And that's not very well known. No, no. But when you say it, it actually becomes very obvious.
00:07:07
Speaker
Yes, but it's not that well known. This was known by me like in 2007 because I was responsible for the Green Bank in the Development Bank in Mexico.
00:07:19
Speaker
And I did a study on what climate change was happening and what we could do and solve. At that time, photovoltaic energy was not inexpensive and the numbers were not so easy to work with.
00:07:35
Speaker
But heating water with sun was a good point to start and people could buy their equipment and it would be paid in one or two years at the most.
00:07:47
Speaker
So that was a good way to start. But nowadays, photovoltaic is really, really inexpensive. And I believe it will boom in Mexico. And more and more small, medium companies have their panels, also homes. and more big industries are are looking at ways on how to do it in accordance to the government and the programs.
00:08:11
Speaker
So I believe photovoltaic will be really something booming in Mexico.
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security
00:08:15
Speaker
Another very important part is agriculture and sustainable agriculture. I can announce and I'm thrilled about it and very happy that we are bringing for the first time the World Agritech Summit to Mexico.
00:08:31
Speaker
And this was just confirmed this week to me and they are coming in November. along with a Yield lab that is a fund that has been promoting sustainable agriculture and tech for agriculture in Latin America.
00:08:47
Speaker
We convinced the organizers and they're coming. And this will make a huge difference. I have an example in agriculture. It's like when you see the grass of your neighbor, you went and it's very green and greener than yours.
00:09:02
Speaker
You want to know what he did, right? And that happens in agriculture. So having this space for showing innovation and showing how things can be well done, regenerative agriculture, clean water, having better systems for saving water, everything that can be done, it's fantastic.
00:09:23
Speaker
And also in this theme of agriculture, I would like to point that we are working to work as a region. as Latin America. And Latin America, if you see all Latin America, we have one third of the pure water or fresh water of the world.
00:09:41
Speaker
One third. We also have one third of the soil for growing different types of cultivars. And we also in a future, ah near true future, and other organizations are saying that we as Latin America, we will be one third of the providers of food of the world.
00:10:02
Speaker
That's awesome. Yes. When we do this, we need to do it right. Because if we don't, what is happening also. And when I was in the World Agritech Summit in Brazil, it was impressive for me to see the amount of degradation of soil.
00:10:18
Speaker
and how exponential this could happen if people are not aware of how to do it and reduce all the chemical fertilizers and start using more biologicals and more good bacteria and how the soil is really important and the living soil.
00:10:39
Speaker
Also, for example, Argentina, They have been for more than 30 years using and alternatives in which they do not till because tilling kills all the worms and all the ants and all all the biota of the soil. And that is really harmful.
00:10:57
Speaker
So they have been doing this other way of doing it by keeping the soil and putting on top. That is really interesting as well. So there are a lot of things and I'm i'm really thrilled in sustainable agriculture.
00:11:11
Speaker
And also another part that we have, we are also working and starting is in environmental infrastructure. I believe that trash will no longer be trashed.
00:11:23
Speaker
So we are learning on how to develop different alternatives to make this better. Like, for example, we have analyzed, I don't know if you know, a black soldier fly.
00:11:37
Speaker
It's a fly that the larva could be eaten by chicken, by fish, by pork. And it's a good substitute so that you do not give them like, for example, soy or corn that could be used for
Career Path and Impact Investing Strategy
00:11:51
Speaker
humans.
00:11:51
Speaker
So it's a good way to do food security. But these larvas, they eat a lot of waste, of organic waste. And a small plant or relatively small plant that produces this larva for production for animals animals food could use two Aztec stadiums, that it's a 75,000 people stadium full of waste and they can eat it in a year.
00:12:21
Speaker
It is ah impressive like what they can do. And with this waste and and what is left of it will not go also into the water because that is also a problem with garbage. Now that where they put it it could permeate and contaminate the water that could be used for drinking and for other purposes.
00:12:43
Speaker
We have a lot of things and a lot of challenges, but also opportunities. Yeah, and a lot of innovations from what I can hear. And what I appreciate as well of the examples that you mentioned is the multiple benefits that it can have.
00:12:57
Speaker
It can have benefits for climate. It can have benefits for people's health and how they nourish themselves and the circular economy perspective. So it's like kind of investing in one thing can yield many, many positive benefits.
00:13:10
Speaker
And with that, you you brought me to mind also for support for small and medium companies. Like there is a ah project here in Mexico that has been around for 10 years that is called Someone Somewhere because it's artisans in some place doing things for someone who will bring it to another country or probably here in Mexico, but it's good that they signed their name, their artisans.
00:13:35
Speaker
And these young people, they were in high school. They went to a community in Puebla and they found out that people were really struggling because with agriculture, that was their main income.
00:13:51
Speaker
They could receive like a small amount and sometimes they didn't have even and enough food for themselves and for their families. So they decided to do something and give them consequent ways of receiving money.
00:14:08
Speaker
And what they did is they started with t-shirts that had a pocket that had artisan work on it. And then they realized that they needed to have more products for the world and more products for them to come together.
00:14:25
Speaker
And what they did also is they thought it it is important to take care of the environment. So all the fibers that they include in their products now are recycled.
00:14:38
Speaker
We went to this community and they were like, yes, the people from someone somewhere has been coming and giving us jobs each month and we receive our money. And we're really thrilled and happy to work together with them.
00:14:52
Speaker
and Many women support it. one of their big clients, for example, is Delta. So all the bags that are given in first class are made by someone somewhere.
00:15:03
Speaker
And they have the stamp of who helped elaborating and collaborating with them. It's a beautiful project that we believe We need to do more of this. How can we support these people in in small communities that are so really struggling to have opportunities to grow and to send their kids to school and to really promote education?
00:15:26
Speaker
And how can we improve their quality of life Thanks. I really like this example. It's very concrete and it's also a great success story, right? It started small and then it became bigger and bigger. And it's a really great example of how social business can support those who need it most.
00:15:45
Speaker
So moving on to you and to your journey in this space, you were, i guess, a pioneer in impact investing in Mexico. Can you tell us how you got here? What was your journey?
00:15:55
Speaker
Were there any milestones or turning points for you? Yes, it's fantastic. So I was in the development bank in Mexico for 20 years. I started doing supply development as a consultant with United Nations, not hired by Nacional Financiera, that is the development bank, but by United Nations.
00:16:18
Speaker
And then I started doing programs in Nacional Financiera. So I started with a program for factoring for small companies that were suppliers of big companies.
00:16:29
Speaker
And then moved into other programs for non-banks and also the financial floor and then the Green Bank. And a lot of opportunities to make programs that really impacted ah small and medium companies in Mexico. That was the shortcut.
00:16:48
Speaker
At the end of my stay in Nacional Financiera, the last years, I was in charge of the venture capital area there. So when I arrived in this area, we were only invested in three funds and in more than 50 companies.
00:17:04
Speaker
And what I realized is that to build an ecosystem, we need to support funds. So I focus all our strength and all our strategy into supporting funds.
00:17:15
Speaker
So when I came to Fondo de Fondos in 2018, we were in Capital Emprendedor. We were already invested in 56. From those 80 funds that I told you in 2018, we were invested in And I worked together with Adriana Tortajada, that she was in the Entrepreneur Institute in Mexico.
00:17:37
Speaker
And she was the one responsible for structuring this program for 42 of these funds. And she got money from the government to invest in these funds to 49% of the size of these funds.
00:17:50
Speaker
And it was a huge initiative in which we had a lot of first-time funds. That was the strategy to create first-time funds. And many of these funds are now in their third, fourth fund.
00:18:02
Speaker
So it was really successful in that way and in building the ecosystem. And Adriana came to Fondo de Fondos and she called me and she told me, okay, for how I know you, I know you will love to do innovation, but also doing good.
00:18:18
Speaker
And I was like, yes. And she invited me ah to meet Raúl Pomares, who is the founder of Sonen Capital. And i was really convinced. I was like, I have always liked doing philanthropy and doing things for helping people.
00:18:34
Speaker
So I was like, this is a better way to do it because it's sustainable. You get returns, you get the LPs, what they want, you measure the impact and it's real.
00:18:45
Speaker
It's not just because in the core of the business is what, how you will be doing good for people in different sectors or for the environment. So I was really thrilled and I came to Fondo de Fondos in 2018.
00:19:00
Speaker
And I had to start from not zero because we already had our iron core investor that was Grupo Bimbo. But from then, I had to fundraise the fund. So I had to knock a lot of doors.
00:19:14
Speaker
We still do have this misconception that impact investing is philanthropy. A lot of it happens and I knocked a lot of doors where they said, no, we we have a foundation and we're doing philanthropy this way. And we're like, no, this is investing. You will get returns.
00:19:34
Speaker
But I believe that what we, our mission now is to prove that returns can be together with the positive impact. And that's what we're working on.
00:19:45
Speaker
And this fund, we will invest 50% of the fund in funds because I do believe and we do believe in this ecosystem building. But we also are investing in direct co-investing with other funds because there are funds in which we cannot invest. Like, for example, if it's a global fund, I cannot invest in them because the LATAM impact fund is only for Latin America.
00:20:09
Speaker
but I can co-invest with them. Or if it's a traditional fund that is only looking for returns, but they have an impact investment and they are willing to measure the impact that we need to measure, then we can co-invest with them.
00:20:26
Speaker
So that's the strategy we're following. We are already invested in six funds and we are already invested in six direct investments so as well.
00:20:36
Speaker
And i believe we will come to 10 funds and to 12 direct investments, probably. That's really exciting. And it tells a story about how it started and where you are today.
00:20:49
Speaker
One of the things I wanted to ask you is about something that you mentioned. Grupo Bimbo is actually a company and they are your anchor investor, meaning that they are your initial investor who committed to get the fund off the ground. The Fondo de Fondos.
00:21:07
Speaker
And it was a woman. Yeah. Tell us more because this is a very unique story. Yes. No. And I really, I'm so proud of Tania Dib.
00:21:18
Speaker
She is the treasurer of Grupo Bimbo. The fun story is that she went to Socap in San Francisco and she learned about impact investing. And she was so excited about it that she said, we need to do this.
00:21:33
Speaker
She went to FLII in Mexico and there she met Raul and she also met Fondo de Fondos. And she was like, OK, I want to do this. And coincidence in the world, Raul was the teacher of Adriana Tortajada, who brought me here in Kaufman Fellows of Impact Investment.
00:21:53
Speaker
So they talked and they said, OK, let's not fight about this. set Let's do it together. And in Fondo de Fundos, we already had a strategy with another fund for venture capital. So we knew how to do it together and and we had all the tools and everything.
00:22:09
Speaker
It was a process in in which we settled how we would work together and everything. But it it has been working wonderfully. So ah sometimes I speak more with Sandra that is from the Sonnen team than with my next neighbor in the office.
00:22:25
Speaker
We work really together and we are comp convinced that we can put an example that this can be done in a good way and the ecosystem building will be done.
00:22:36
Speaker
So Tanya was the one responsible for this strategy. That's awesome. And I mean, it's a corporate, which again is such a unique story, right?
00:22:46
Speaker
In the impact investment world, it's usually asset managers or maybe high net worth individuals. But here it's a company. Do you have any relationships with the business itself? How does it work?
00:22:57
Speaker
It's so funny, Krisztina, because in the start of my career, this program that I i did with United Nations, The first company that I contacted and that I worked with for three years was Grupo Bimbo.
00:23:12
Speaker
And they were willing to innovate. They are always looking in ways to be in the next step. So I worked with them and they took the methodology that we did for promoting them on how to work with their suppliers and make them better and have more Mexican suppliers with good quality and and responding to them. So they kept that program.
00:23:35
Speaker
And then if several years afterwards, they knocked my door again because they wanted to do an event in Nacional Financiera for energy saving.
00:23:46
Speaker
So we did an event for them. It was impressive. There was a lot of talks, but also a fair having different entrepreneurs for energy saving and new energies and so on.
00:24:00
Speaker
And now when I came here, they already... were the ones pioneering this initiative. They are also working a lot in sustainable agriculture.
00:24:12
Speaker
And it's a company that's a family business owned, but with strong values. If you go to Grupo Bimbo and for all the experience that I have had with them, I was honored to meet the founder that was Don Lorenzo.
Promoting Impact Investing and Diversity
00:24:28
Speaker
He passed away, but he really gave this legacy to the company. but First the values, first the people, a lot of innovation, a lot of making new ways of doing good things.
00:24:43
Speaker
And they were the ones who started this. That's amazing. And for those who may be less familiar with the investment space, can you tell us about your day-to-day? What does it look like?
00:24:55
Speaker
What's a typical day in your life? Okay. Well, I do a lot. Yeah. So I'm also part, as you mentioned in the beginning, I'm the chairman of the board of the Alianza por la Inversión Impacto.
00:25:10
Speaker
And this came to me a year and a half ago. And Rodrigo Villar, who had been the president for several years, and he was a strong promoter of impact investing in Mexico, so he had been the president for eight years and we didn't want him to go.
00:25:29
Speaker
He came to me with Carolina Puerta, the CEO, and they were like, okay, it's time for you to grab it and to do it because you also are promoting impact investing. And i I am really passionate about this. And I was like, okay, yes, absolutely.
00:25:45
Speaker
So I asked if I could do it and they they allowed me to do it. So I have these both roles on doing a lot of promoting impact investing.
00:25:56
Speaker
So when you ask me what's my day a day, I travel a lot. I travel a lot giving conferences about impact investing and how to promote impact investing and how to have more contact with the North and the South.
00:26:12
Speaker
Because something that happens in Mexico and Latin America is that the big capitals do not look at us first. Like they first invest in Asia, they first invest in Africa, but they do not think that we have all these challenges, but also opportunities.
00:26:30
Speaker
So it is very important for me to let everybody know that we do have a lot of opportunities and we have a strong pipeline because many people tell us, okay, you do not have a strong pipeline. There are not enough opportunities to invest in. And I'm like,
00:26:45
Speaker
I receive hundreds of opportunities. So yes, we do have a lot of opportunities. ah So that part of traveling and speaking is a big part of my day, but also receiving and contacting entrepreneurs,
00:27:02
Speaker
ah putting them in contact with other funds, because for us, it's important for them to have a lead investor. So we need them to first have this initiative of having other funds and and working together, but we also contact them with the funds.
00:27:16
Speaker
So we work a lot on that. We see a lot of opportunities. We prepare the memos for our investment committees. So something that I love about this fund is that we invite our investors to the investment committee.
00:27:31
Speaker
And we have the committees in three stages. So first of all, when we see an opportunity, it has to meet some criteria. Like, for example, in a company, it has to have a lead investor.
00:27:42
Speaker
It has to have $1 million dollars or above in revenues. It has to have like the sectors and the business model and very important, the team.
00:27:55
Speaker
For us, the team is really important. Who is behind these initiatives and so on. And when we see them, we bring them to the team. We decide which ones meet the criteria and can go on.
00:28:07
Speaker
And we prepare the memos for the investment committee. So we go for an early read in which All the investors ask us everything about it. Like many, not many, but at least two or three opportunities have been stopped in early reads because they ask us to go further and investigate more in the due diligence process. When they approve the early read, we go to due diligence process.
00:28:33
Speaker
And there we make like a 360 interviews. We interview providers, investors, clients.
00:28:43
Speaker
So we really work in this due diligence. And then we go back to investment committee for the approval of the investment and third party due diligence.
00:28:55
Speaker
So it's a lot of work in every investment. And there have been times that we put a lot of work into companies that we believe it will go further or funds.
00:29:05
Speaker
And then it's not not concluded, but it's okay because that's the part of investing. You can think at the beginning that it's really good and they meet all the criteria, but as you follow on,
00:29:18
Speaker
Like, okay, for me, financial ah information is really important and you are not doing it. And you start looking at things that are really important for the future.
00:29:28
Speaker
And in this industry, what is very important is like you get married with the entrepreneur because you will be invested in them for at least five to 10 years.
00:29:40
Speaker
So... It's really in the beginning where you have to be really, really careful on what you are selecting and how you are doing And for a venture capital fund, it's like for 1,000 opportunities that you see, you will invest in eight.
00:29:59
Speaker
With these 56 funds in Mexico, we did that analysis and that came through. So it's really a minimum percent of what you see, what you can invest in.
00:30:10
Speaker
Because it's also on the stage that you are, on the time that you are, that you get the co-lead investor, that you have all aligned to be invested. But in the fleet last year, we also have a lot of relation with our investors.
00:30:26
Speaker
So we send them reports and we have to do reporting. And we have this annual meeting. And in February, we had it and we...
00:30:36
Speaker
took the companies that were invested in to speak to the to our investors. And it was really, really, for me, hard feeling that their stories are so true.
00:30:51
Speaker
Like there is one investment that is called Clinicas del Azúcar, in which the founder, his mother had diabetes. And she was so tired from going to one doctor to another and medicines could be making contrary effects because they gave to medicines at the same time that were not supposed to be given that way and and so on.
00:31:16
Speaker
And, you know, diabetes in Mexico is a strong problem. There's a lot of consumption of a lot of sugar. And genetically, we are predetermined to have it.
00:31:27
Speaker
And it's a silent disease in which you can be sort of feeling okay. And suddenly it really affects you and very terrible things like losing your sight can happen.
00:31:41
Speaker
So this guy structured a one-stop shop for diabetes. And he showed us the examples of people who have survived and who have not had these complications. And but because it's also a disease that if you take good care, you can of live with it with no problem.
00:32:01
Speaker
So that is what they are doing. And he told the story and it was wonderful. And another education company that is also giving access to schools, to private schools, but also to public schools, to kids, to the same programs and education as private schools.
00:32:20
Speaker
And it's really fantastic to see the kids. We went to a public school. And to see the the kids really interested and asking things and playing, because it it makes them like really living the learning, not just hearing it and having to be seated and the learning. And it was really nice.
00:32:45
Speaker
So that's also part of what we do. Yeah. Thanks. And thank you for the other examples as well. And thank you for sharing, because indeed, it's a very wide spectrum of activities.
00:32:56
Speaker
And it sounds really fascinating and engaging, but also very intense. So I want to ask you, what is helping you or what has helped you to be your best self? Something also that happens in finance in Mexico is that we are few women.
00:33:12
Speaker
So for me, it has been really fulfilling to know that I am setting an example for the generations to come. And some girls have come to me and and they have told me that, that you don't, you are not aware of how you're setting an example for us. And I was like, Oh, thank you. And that the other gives me a lot of drive as well.
00:33:35
Speaker
Because, for example, in these 56 funds that we were invested in, I was the only woman and 90% of them, they had no women taking decisions of investments.
00:33:48
Speaker
I think we are making a change and now it's changing. And we are, for us, for example, in investing, it gives them clues if they have women in their investment committees.
00:33:59
Speaker
Because if would they have women in their investment committees, they will look at investments of women and they will realize that on how women take decisions as well.
00:34:10
Speaker
I have an example of an investment that was almost declined because there were only men in the table. It was a table of 13 people. I was the only woman.
00:34:21
Speaker
And it was a company called Corner Shop. And when they presented, I was like, oh, they can do this, they can do and They deliver the supermarket to your house and you can ask for it in 90 minutes.
00:34:34
Speaker
You can rate how they bring it and they will have all the information and I'm a ah working, I work. So for me, spending more than 10 minutes in supermarket, it's it's not what I want. And so going to the supermarket was really a hazard.
00:34:51
Speaker
when I asked for the supermarket in the traditional supermarkets, they really did not care what they brought. Like they could bring the worst fruits, the but worst vegetables, and you could do nothing.
00:35:02
Speaker
So when these guys presented, I was so thrilled about it. And these guys started, they went out and the voting started and they were like, no, they are not offering anything different from what supermarkets do.
00:35:19
Speaker
It's not innovative. It's no good. And I was like, I had boys, but no vote. So I raised my hand i and I said, okay, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm the one making the supermarket in my house every week.
00:35:33
Speaker
And what these guys are bringing to the table, nobody has. So they will bring the supermarket in a time that you know, you can evaluate what they are doing and the information that they will get from this.
00:35:49
Speaker
Nielsen and everybody else would love it because they really know the consumption in this platform. So it was invested. It was approved, fortunately.
00:36:00
Speaker
And it was a 16 to the fund who invested in it. It was bought by Uber. So those types of stories and letting them know that This could have been lost if a woman was not there.
00:36:16
Speaker
Not that it was me, but it's someone who has different problems than men. Because usually in Mexico, men do not ask for the supermarket. There could be some, but it's not traditional. It's more the woman who is responsible for all this.
00:36:31
Speaker
So for me, something that drives me is we need to improve and have more women making decisions and more women involved. And it can be done. Like sometimes people is like, okay, you need to not have a family and only work. And it's like, no, you can have both.
00:36:49
Speaker
Of course, with a lot of help, because for example, i can travel because Miguel helps me here. Oh, I have someone 100% devoted. hundred percent devoted And when important emails come that need to be addressed and I'm not in to solve, there is someone helping me and he's solving these things for me.
00:37:08
Speaker
And we work as a team really, really strongly. So it's like this. How can you get help from others to be able to do everything? Yes, absolutely.
00:37:19
Speaker
And it's a very concrete example to show what the data has already proven. That if you have women in investment committees and women as partners of investment funds, the bottom line also benefits.
00:37:30
Speaker
They outperform funds that have no diversity. And I like that you bring this to life as well. Thank you for that.
Vision for the Future and Personal Insights
00:37:37
Speaker
It's a beautiful way of it explaining how you feel as a woman doing this job.
00:37:41
Speaker
Do you have any advice or guidance for others? Yes, it's very important for us that if you're seated in an only man table, speak up.
00:37:52
Speaker
Don't stay quiet because we tend to be more shy and more quiet. And there is a survey that was really interesting for me that showed that women will only express in a job interview that they know something if they know it 100%.
00:38:09
Speaker
one hundred percent Not if they are like 70 or 50%, only if they have 100%. demand ourselves so much. And it's, hey, nobody's 100%.
00:38:22
Speaker
If a man is saying that, it's not always true. So... and so Try to be confident ah on what you know and and what you have experienced and what you can offer and how you will learn.
00:38:36
Speaker
For me, it's a learning process. I'm still learning. I do not know everything, not at all. i am in the learning process every day. And to be aware of that.
00:38:47
Speaker
I'm proud of being in the learning process. Yes, I have a lot of experience. Yes, i I have been able to get to know a lot of programs and a lot of things, how they work. And i I'm always into it and and trying to do my best.
00:39:02
Speaker
The other thing is also trying to do your best. But at the end of the day, you did your best. You feel so comforted because you did your best. It was like, okay, I'm i'm doing my best.
00:39:14
Speaker
And also for doing programs, something that is very important and not everybody takes in account, Christina, is the incentives that you are generating.
00:39:26
Speaker
That for me has been so important in all my career. It's like Okay, what am I incentivating? What do I want to incentivate?
00:39:37
Speaker
But also, how will others think this initiative will work and if I'm promoting the the right thing or not? And that is very important also to always, when you're generating programs like this program of impact investing and really I'm devoted to have more impact investing is investments in Mexico and in Latin America.
00:40:02
Speaker
And how can we do it? And how can we, can people be incentivated to participate and to do it? And how can we have more entrepreneurs with purpose? And how can we have the new generations of family offices saying, Hey, stop, I want a better world.
00:40:20
Speaker
And you are ending it. So let's do this in a good way. it can be done. It's not losing returns just for doing good, but it's how can we do this together and how how can we incentivize everybody to do this?
00:40:35
Speaker
Absolutely. Thank you. And you have talked about so many different successes in your journey. It's also the opportunity to ask you to reflect on what makes you most proud or out of those so achievements, or perhaps what you still want to achieve in the future.
00:40:51
Speaker
What's your dream? My dream is to to have really hundreds of funds in Mexico and Latin America, investing in entrepreneurs with purpose.
00:41:04
Speaker
And building community. I think also building communities is my dream because we need to be believe in each other and we need to understand that we are in a trust industry.
00:41:16
Speaker
This is an industry of trust because I will not invest in an entrepreneur that I do not trust. And nobody will invest in me if they do not trust that I will be doing my best to have the best results possible.
00:41:30
Speaker
So, and when we trust each other, we build community. And that is something that is really for me when I go to the FLII or when I go to the summits of impact investing and we will be in the GLM in Costa Rica. And it really makes me so happy and so thrilled that we are building community.
00:41:50
Speaker
And that happens. It's like in these scenarios, everybody's trying to collaborate and everybody's, hey, I do not do what you are looking for, but I know that this guy does. So I will introduce you to this guy.
00:42:05
Speaker
And things worked there because everybody's collaborating. And that doesn't happen in other industries as well. And I believe we can set a good example and we can do this, like show everybody that it's it's not, I will not talk good of another fund because they will invest in them and not in me. No, I will talk good about them because if everybody's doing the right stuff, more people will come into the space because we need to be doing the right things.
00:42:36
Speaker
So it's this part of sharing and collaborating. and And I love that about this industry. We have been doing this really good. And for example, the GLM is an example. we We work together, all the national advisors or the national partners now, sorry, from Latin America.
00:42:55
Speaker
So how can we collaborate? And it's not, I know you, you know, it's how can we do it? Let's do it and work together and set an example. And it motivates me a lot.
00:43:07
Speaker
I believe that can be done. Yeah, I totally agree. Starting with trust is for me so natural, but for so many people, it's difficult to understand how you can do that. But I totally agree. It's the very, very starting point.
00:43:21
Speaker
It's to start with trust, build the trust, nurture the trust. And then so many things can happen from here. It's magic. It's not very measurable, but it's really important to have that as a foundation.
00:43:32
Speaker
I totally agree with you. Well, we're approaching the end of this conversation and i have a few questions for you. What's keeping you optimistic? What's keeping me optimistic?
00:43:43
Speaker
Wow. I will go to another space of my life. I do meditate every day. I have a space for mindfulness and for going inside.
00:43:53
Speaker
And I believe that helps me a lot. And, well, I also have a examples of my grandmother and my father that are really, well, my grandmother passed away, but my father is still here. And they are good examples of how to keep optimistic always.
00:44:12
Speaker
Like my grandmother had a flat tire on a highway. And she was so beautiful and so optimistic that she pulled out her suitcase. it She sat on it and she my brothers and sisters like, OK, enjoy the view.
00:44:29
Speaker
What a beautiful place we were able to see it and enjoy the view. So it's like, okay, things will happen a could happen, but there is another good thing coming and another thing good thing that you can appreciate.
00:44:45
Speaker
And I believe that has been a school for me. Like my father is always like that. He's always looking at how to do things better and how to have better education and better science and technology. yeah And I believe that also makes me Very optimistic.
00:45:03
Speaker
Yes. Thank you. And what's inspiring you? Well, what inspires me is that I do believe that we can have a better future.
00:45:15
Speaker
I'm ah a believer. I believe we can have a better future. i have a phrase that I love that it's like, we can have a better world. We have to do it one step at a time.
00:45:25
Speaker
It's one step, one step. How can we build a better world also by growing people with good heart? No, like the people that our kids and next generations, for me, the the most important for part is for them to have good hearts, to know that they are loved and that they they are willing to love as well.
00:45:48
Speaker
It's really important for me. Yes. So beautiful. Thank you. And do you have anything that you were reading that you would recommend? Wow. I'm reading a ah book that is about Lemuria, the women of Lemuria.
00:46:06
Speaker
Okay, tell me more. Yes. So there is this channeler called Kryon that tells that the first civilization in the world was Lemuria.
00:46:20
Speaker
It's not scientifically proven yet. There will be proof probably in the future. But it's wonderful to know how this society worked. and how we can go to that type of society as well.
00:46:35
Speaker
So, for example, something important in schools in Lemuria, that the kids were responsible for helping every other kid to get the knowledge.
00:46:48
Speaker
So they worked together to get the knowledge. And when they were able to have the knowledge, if they were able to have the knowledge before the vacations came, they could advance their vacations.
00:47:01
Speaker
But that it was a ah really strong effort of everybody putting everybody in the same level. And there are teachings like that on other scopes, like women are were the ones responsible for education and for also like the priests were priestesses because they were the ones with more ability to share the love and the connection with the new generations.
00:47:30
Speaker
So that was the way
Call to Action and Conclusion
00:47:32
Speaker
it was done. So that's the book i'm I'm reading now. Great. I look it up. Thank you so much. And do you have any final thoughts, advice, or maybe a call to action for the listeners?
00:47:43
Speaker
My call to action is for everybody to become impact investors. And you would say, quite. Yes, because in every decision that we make, we are driving the things of how industries work.
00:47:59
Speaker
So our pocket, our bill pocket is really a force that could move things. And I believe we can all do that. And I would love to have more entrepreneurs also ah with this purpose of doing things in a better way. And what is told by Sir Ronald that I love, no, do good, do well can be done. And I believe I'm a believer in that.
00:48:25
Speaker
Absolutely. Thank you so much. It was such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much, Ana Laura. I really enjoyed this. I really enjoyed it as well, k Krisztina Thank you. Thank you so much for this space.
00:48:38
Speaker
Thank you for making the time today for this podcast. No, thank you, Krisztina And please, whatever I can be of help, I'm here. Thank you so much. Thank you.
00:48:52
Speaker
If you will stay with us, thank you so much for the time that you took to discover one of the amazing women changing finance. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends, colleagues, and on social media.
00:49:03
Speaker
Your feedback is also incredibly valuable. Please take a moment to leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. It will help me for the next episodes. And don't miss out on future episodes.
00:49:15
Speaker
Subscribe to the podcast and follow me on LinkedIn. See you for the next episode.