Energía y Minas

Warren Buffett is widely known as a successful investor who managed to build one of the largest fortunes in the world.

He is often consulted on investment and personal finance topics and his bets on the New York Stock Exchange from Berkshire Hathaway are closely watched by Wall Street traders.

The billionaire referred to the importance of learning to manage personal finances and gave some advice on what parents should do with their children. Buffett believes that the biggest mistake they often make is that they wait too long to start financial education.

“Sometimes parents wait until their kids are in their teens before they start talking regarding managing money, when they might start when their kids are in preschool,” the Berkshire Hathaway CEO said in an interview with the US media. cnbc.

According to Buffett, supported by a study from the University of Cambridge, children are able to understand basic concepts of money between three and four years of age. He says that at age seven, he can already begin to develop responsible financial behaviors.

In addition, the stage of three years of age should be taken advantage of, which is when 80% of a person’s brain growth occurs and has a greater capacity to absorb knowledge.

“Most parents already know how important it is to teach their children regarding money and how to manage it properly, but there is a difference between knowing and acting,” says the Oracle of Omaha, also known as billionaire Buffett.

Warren Buffett, considered one of the best investors in history, has chaired the financial company Berkshire Hathaway for more than 60 years and made it one of the companies with the highest market value in the world.

The alarms are on once morest a possible recession in the United States next year, according to different experts, a situation that might have repercussions in Colombia.

The increase in the cost of living and the consequent rise in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, as well as the effects of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, generate pressure on the US economy and increase the risks of reaching a technical recession in said country.

Following this line, experts assure that the situation might have a negative impact in Colombia, although not immediately. However, the main concern is the effect that this uncertainty may have on the consolidated economic recovery that the country has shown.

Felipe Campos, manager of Investment and Research at Alianza Valores y Fiduciaria, explained to Colprensa that “there is talk of a recession in the United States because it will meet the most basic definition of growing two negative quarters in a row, under a very strict definition of them “.

Several economic indicators can be affected by this scourge. According to the specialists’ projections, the value of Colombian exports might fall under a scenario of recession in the US, especially due to the possibility of falling oil prices.

“The main product that the United States buys from us is oil. And we have already seen that only with the threat of the expectation of a recession, the price of oil fell sharply”, explained Munir Jalil, chief economist for the Andean Region of BTG Pactual to the media.

On the other hand, in the face of foreign investment, Colombia would also see negative effects. Experts suggest that if the United States weakens, being the country’s main trading partner, investors would stop placing their capital in Colombia, given the risk that the national economy will also slow down.

“The risk appetite of portfolio investors can also be affected. Talking regarding a recession internationally can affect the arrival of dollars in the Colombian economy and that affects both imports and domestic demand, and can slow down the good times that are passing the national economy,” said Sergio Olarte, an economist at Scotiabank Colpatria.

In addition, the inflow of remittances from Colombian workers residing in the United States might decrease.

According to analysts, it is feasible that the first impacts of a possible recession may be reflected in the second half of this year, especially in terms of oil and the dollar. It should be remembered that this week the greenback hit its highest price in history.

With the philosophy of being “Fair and good” Mercadería SAS was born Fair & Good, one of the discounters in the country, a competitor of Ara and D1, which managed to position itself at the national level as the second discount supermarket chain in Colombia. But little by little it was losing market share and finished third, with 18.2% share within the discounter and retail sector, following Ara unseated it, according to Euromonitor.

It was born years ago, exactly in 2015. It was founded by Michel Olmi, who is also listed as the creator of D1 stores; that is to say, he risked it for the idea and also for the competition. His business ally was the Santodomingo Group. The business model was not a Colombian “headbutt”, but rather an import: Justo&Bueno is inspired by a German line of business called Hard Discounter and which translates as “Hard Discount”.

And yes, pure and simple discount, as they say more exactly in Colombia, was what they were looking for with the creation of these supermarket chains that, in essence, were simulating perhaps the most successful business model in the country: neighborhood stores.

The first store was in the Restrepo neighborhood of Bogotá, in February 2016. But by October of that same year, they already had 175 stores and 1,459 employees, with a projected sales of $35,000 million: quite a success. Its secrets: working hand in hand with small suppliers and leasing all its premises. Colombian history can confirm it: everyone has a Justo&Bueno “just around the corner”.

But, everything that goes up, comes down at some point, and in Justo&Bueno it happened that that colloquial formula was applied to the letter. Here it comes, what the writers of a novel call “the conflict”; because so far it’s a fairy tale.

The drama of history begins with the storm of the pandemic. Justo&Bueno argued that this phenomenon had a considerable impact on its finances. So the supermarket chain went from selling $3.2 billion annually to having debts of more than $1.2 billion. As a consequence of this, Justo&Bueno received a liquidation order from the Superintendence of Companies, which is still in force. In this context, the “villains” appear. Well, Russian, American and even Chinese tales arrived promising to save Justo&Bueno.

The first antagonist in this story was a Russian fund that was never heard from once more; the next was the American fund MGM Innova Capital, chaired by Marco Monroy, which ended up placing US$4.5 million for Justo&Bueno. The latter has a breaking point and is that they appear as Merchandise partners, but in Panama, according to research carried out by LR. Then came the promising Chinese fund called JFC, which stood for Joining Futures Capital International Limited, but which was ultimately the acronym for the Colombian, Jhon Jairo Flores Capital. He had stated that he was going to buy the company, but in the end this turned out to be just “a tall tale”, because the promised money never arrived.

Among the reasons why Justo&Bueno reached this financial breaking point is mainly due to mismanagement. Giraldo explained to LR that even with the effects that the pandemic was having on the resources of the supermarket chain, the administration at that time decided to open more stores in Colombia and also venture into international markets such as those of Panama. Reason that was leading Justo&Bueno to a situation of non-payment with its suppliers and later with the employees.

A new investor arrived
The story continues with Justo&Bueno receiving a new investor in the last week. This is the Lobbying&Consulting firm, which is chaired by Alfonso Giraldo Castro, a Colombian businessman who has figured in several of the country’s large companies (see below). Giraldo informed LR that Lobbying&Consulting together with the global firm Deloitte are looking for fresh money to save Justo&bueno. The proposal consists of injecting more or less US$40 million to cover administrative expenses and stabilize the operation. They are currently waiting for permission from Supersociedades.

This is the profile of the new investor
One of the new investors that will seek to save Justo&Bueno is the firm Lobbying&Consulting, chaired by Mr. Alfonso Giraldo Castro. The consultant has worked with several multinationals that operate in Colombia and in the region; one of the many are 3M, Dupont, HEL, Wester Union; Cobra Group; and Codere. For his part, Giraldo has been a member of several boards of directors of large companies in the country such as Hidroituango, MG12; and he was for more than 14 years associated with Augusto López Valencia, former president of Bavaria and top figure of the Santodomingo Group.