Manuel Lao's family office, Nortia, appoints Fernando López Muñoz as its new executive director following the departure of Juan Antonio Alcaraz.
Panghea Capital, the private banking firm recently launched by former Citi private bankers, has secured one of the largest investment mandates in the Spanish market. Nortia, the Lao family’s business holding company, has entrusted the management of its wealth to Panghea Capital Partners.
The family office of businessman Manuel Lao has appointed Fernando López Muñoz as its new executive director. López Muñoz is the former CEO of Citi Private Bank in Europe and Latin America, and the founder and current CEO of Panghea Capital. He takes over the role just weeks after the departure from Nortia of Juan Antonio Alcaraz, the former managing director of CaixaBank.
López Muñoz will report to Nortia’s CEO, Manuel Lao Gorina, and will sit on the firm’s board of directors alongside Manuel Lao Gorina, Ingrid Lao Gorina (as vice chairwoman), and Nortia’s chairman, Manuel Lao Hernández.
Moving forward, López Muñoz will therefore represent Nortia’s interests, including the various investee companies owned by the Lao family. The company holds a diversified investment portfolio with the objective of growing its capital over the medium and long term.
For instance, the former owner of Cirsa holds significant stakes in renewable energy, hotels, infrastructure, and the real estate sector. The firm is one of the anchor investors in the REIT Merlin Properties and the construction group Sacyr.
The Mandate
Nortia’s mandate to Panghea aims to strengthen the management of the holding company, which has been particularly active over the last two fiscal years under Alcaraz’s leadership. In fact, the family office’s goals include maintaining the institutional strengthening process it has been developing in recent years.
In line with this, Manuel Lao has tasked López Muñoz not only with managing the family wealth—and ensuring an orderly, independent management of its fortune—but also with fostering “growth and development at both a national and global level.” Enhancing its international reach is precisely among Nortia’s priority objectives.
“It is an honor to accompany Nortia in this new chapter. At Panghea, we take on this mandate with full responsibility, mindful of the trust the Lao family has placed in us,” López Muñoz, CEO of Panghea, told EXPANSIÓN.
Panghea
After leaving Citi, López Muñoz began the process of setting up this wealth management boutique, focusing on providing financial advisory services to ultra-high-net-worth individuals with assets exceeding €50 million. The firm has recently announced the hiring of several professionals to its team, most of whom also come from Citi.