Gesiuris: CNMV fine and fund doubts

Gesiuris: The Barcelona-based manager promising water and Japan returns amid regulatory fines

A Catalan asset management firm has spent years selling two narratives that sound like prophecies: that water and agriculture are the business of the century, and that Japanese markets hide undervalued companies waiting to be discovered. This is Gesiuris Asset Management, headquartered in Barcelona, which markets the Panda Agriculture and Water Fund and the Japan Deep Value fund. The former is managed by Marc Garrigasait, a name that generates both loyalty and skepticism in Spain’s value investing community. The latter is a Japanese equity fund promising hidden value in a market that has struggled for decades.

The issue is that the conversation about Gesiuris never remains purely financial. In 2017, the CNMV (Spain’s securities regulator) imposed a fine on the firm, details of which reportedly did not become widely public. This episode resurfaces whenever someone asks about the manager, often accompanied by heavier accusations circulating without visible documentation.

What was the CNMV fine against Gesiuris and why does it remain unclear?

The supervisory sanction is the most uncomfortable data point in the entire file. It occurred in 2017 and is documented as fact, but the specific reason has not circulated clearly. Those who ask encounter the same response: that they were sanctioned, that the exact cause is unknown, and that nothing further has been heard since. This opacity itself fuels distrust.

From there, the ground becomes slippery. Some argue that Gesiuris is a manager with questionable practices and connections to opaque individuals. These are assertions made without provided evidence and should be treated as such: unverified suspicions, not proven facts. The fine is a fact. The rest, for now, is noise.

Panda Agriculture and Water Fund: solid thesis, disputed valuations

The fund’s thesis is easy to summarize and hard to refute fundamentally: global population grows, per capita calorie consumption rises, hunger decreases, and therefore demand for food and water —agriculture being the sector consuming the most water— can only increase. The fund invests more than 90% in equities of water, agriculture, and food companies worldwide: desalination firms, sugar producers, and giants like McDonald's or Bayer, a producer of crop protection products.

The theoretical appeal is evident. The problem is the price. The most repeated objection is that these sectors have been fashionable for years and trade at high valuations, turning a good idea into a bad entry point. Performance data discussed shows a fund with highly variable years: 18.6% in one period, -15.9% in another, and -20.3% in the worst. With ongoing expenses of 2.03% as of January 2019, the margin for error narrows.

Marc Garrigasait: the manager who divides opinion

Garrigasait is the central figure in all this. His supporters place him among the country’s best value managers, highlighting his years of identifying small international companies that would otherwise go unnoticed, and arguing he buys companies with solid competitive advantages years before they become takeover targets, achieving enviable margins. A narrative that, if true, would justify the faith placed in him.

His critics do not dispute his instinct; they dispute his results. The most common accusation is that he has never stood out in the funds he has managed and that his thesis on Japan Deep Value will never materialize. The Japanese fund, in any case, shows a long-term trend worth watching, though the history does not allow for firm conclusions.

The fine print: blue ink signatures and printed paper

Beyond the thesis and the manager, there is an aspect no brochure highlights: operations. Subscribing to the fund requires printing documents, signing them by hand, and sending them via postal mail. The signature must be handwritten and in blue ink; however, fields to be filled in can be typed. Electronic signatures are not accepted. This administrative detail clashes with the image of a modern manager and weighs more than it seems for investors accustomed to online trading.

Order execution, however, has not been as slow as some warned. The website is well-built. The bottleneck is in the paperwork, not the broker.

Water, food, and shelter: a thesis that doesn’t expire

Beyond the fund, the underlying idea has its own trajectory. Water, food, and agriculture companies, especially those operating in poor or emerging countries where demographic growth is highest, have structural tailwinds. Those wanting to play this theme without going through a fund have names like Kellogg's, Nestlé, Danone, Bayer, ITT, or Hormel Foods on the table.

The recent rebound of the Panda fund is attributed to inflation: water and food as safe havens. It is a reasonable hypothesis and, at the same time, a classic trap. When a sector rises because money seeks a hiding place, the question is not whether the thesis is good, but how much of that rise is thesis and how much is antiestéticar.

What if the problem isn’t the manager, but the price paid for a good idea?