The board of trustees of the La Caixa Banking Foundation, chaired by Isidro Fainé, has approved the appointment of Juan María Hernández Puértolas as director of communication for the entire group, a newly created position within the management structure. Until now, Hernández Puértolas was the director of communication for CriteriaCaixa, the holding company that manages the foundation's assets and holds the shares that the group owns in CaixaBank and in companies such as Naturgy, Suez, Saba, Telefónica, and Cellnex.
Before joining Criteria in 2018, the veteran journalist had been the corporate communication director of Abertis. Previously, he had developed his career in the field of economic and business information, although he is also considered an expert in US domestic politics.
La Caixa is considered the largest foundation in continental Europe, with a budget of more than 500 million euros per year allocated to finance Social Work activities. This figure is nourished by the dividends generated by its status as the largest shareholder of CaixaBank, in addition to the return on assets invested in other large companies such as Naturgy, Telefónica, and Cellnex. In parallel to its large strategic investments, after the sale of Abertis, the Criteria holding company began a new stage focused on diversifying its portfolio with multiple smaller investments in listed companies from different sectors to ensure a recurring flow of dividends to finance its social activities.