Álvaro Saieh
Álvaro Saieh Bendeck | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 14, 1949 Villanueva, La Guajira, Colombia |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, academic, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Chairman of CorpGroup, founder of CorpBanca and CorpGroup |
Álvaro Saieh Bendeck (born 14 September 1949) is a Colombian-born economist, academic, and entrepreneur. He holds the position of chairman at CorpGroup, recognized as one of Chile’s most prominent conglomerates.
In 2018, Forbes placed him as the 729th richest individual worldwide and the fourth wealthiest in Chile. Additionally, he is a trustee at the University of Chicago, where he completed his higher education.
Early life
Saieh was born in Villanueva, La Guajira, Colombia, and has ancestral roots tracing back to Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon. Although born abroad, he holds Chilean nationality by descent through his parents: José Saieh, a Chilean, and Elena Bendeck, a Colombian.
When he was three years old, his family relocated to Talca, Chile, where they launched Casa Saieh, a family enterprise initially focused on selling electrical appliances and apparel. He attended Liceo Abate Molina for secondary education before moving to Santiago to study commercial engineering at Universidad de Chile, graduating in 1972. He continued with postgraduate studies in economics at the same university and later obtained both a master's degree and PhD in economics from The University of Chicago.
At the outset of his professional journey, Saieh served as an economic advisor to several institutions including the Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo, Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Banco Central de Chile, and also acted as a delegate from the Superintendencia de Bancos at Banco Continental.
Business career
During the 1980s, Álvaro Saieh embarked on his entrepreneurial path by acquiring Banco Osorno y la Unión alongside fellow investors of Arab heritage such as Carlos Abuhomor. In the following decade, he purchased AFP Provida—one of Chile’s foremost pension fund administrators—and eventually sold both enterprises to international corporations.
CorpBanca
In 1995, Saieh took over Banco Concepción, which was burdened by negative equity and substantial subordinated debt owed to the State. Over the next ten years, he revitalized it into Chile’s fourth largest private bank under the name CorpBanca.
CorpBanca broadened its footprint throughout Latin America with branches in Peru, Argentina, and Colombia while establishing offices in Madrid and New York City. In 2011, it executed the largest foreign acquisition by a Chilean firm by purchasing Banco Santander Colombia for close to US$1.2 billion. Subsequent acquisitions included Helm Bank, positioning CorpBanca Colombia as the fifth largest private bank in that country.
CorpGroup
Following this success, Saieh founded CorpGroup—a conglomerate with diversified holdings across financial services, retail, real estate development, hospitality, and media sectors.
Itaú CorpBanca
In 2016, CorpBanca merged with Brazil’s Itaú bank. The resulting institution ranks as Chile’s fourth biggest private bank with approximately an 8% market share and a market capitalization near US$3.4 billion.
SMU
The Saieh family entered the retail sector in 2007 through acquiring Unimarc supermarkets and forming SMU—the third largest supermarket chain nationwide with extensive coverage across Chile. SMU operates multiple formats including wholesale outlets (Alvi and Mayorista 10), convenience stores (Ok Market), supermarkets (Unimarc), and hardware stores (Construmart). It also maintains operations in Peru via Mayorsa supermarkets. Álvaro Saieh resigned from his role as SMU president in 2018.
VivoCorp
VivoCorp oversees the real estate portfolio of CorpGroup, which includes management of 70 independent retail outlets, 60 strip malls, and 3 power centers encompassing a total area of 350,000 m². Prominent assets under its control are Mall Vivo San Fernando, Mall Vivo Los Trapenses, Panoramic Mall, El Centro Mall, along with a stake in Casa Costanera. Additionally, it owns outlet stores in Maipú and Peñuelas and has introduced new outlets located in La Florida and Temuco.
Significant projects anticipated for completion in 2017 comprised Mall Vivo Coquimbo, Mall Vivo Imperio, and the development of Mall Vivo Santiago.
Hyatt Hotels
Within Chile, Hyatt manages two properties: Grand Hyatt Santiago and Hyatt Place Vitacura.
CorpGroup possesses a 50% ownership interest in a joint venture with the Mexican firm City Express, which has owned the City Express Santiago Airport hotel in Chile since 2016.
Companies
The group’s back-office operations are supported by several key holding companies such as Aeronest SA, Corp Imagen y Diseño SA, Corp Research SA, CorpGroup Holding Ltda., Hotel Corporation of Chile SA, Inmobiliaria Edificio CorpGroup SA, CorpGroup Interhold SPA, Inversiones HSG SA, and Punto H S.A.
Foundations
Two foundations have been established by Álvaro Saieh and his family: Fundación CorpArtes and Fundación Descúbreme.
Fundación CorpArtes was founded in 2002 by Saieh together with his daughter Soledad to foster the arts through impactful cultural experiences. It oversees programs spanning literature, visual arts, theater, music, and film, including the organization of the International Film Festival of Santiago (SANFIC). In 2014, it inaugurated Centro de las Artes 660—a cultural center equipped with a versatile theater, sculpture garden, and three exhibition galleries.
Fundación Descúbreme was created in 2010 with a mission to promote inclusion for individuals with cognitive disabilities. Evolving from Sociedad Educacional Colegio El Golf S.A. and other foundations, it implements awareness initiatives, employment inclusion efforts, and various social projects.
Publications
- International Economy and its impact on Chilean Economy. Taller de Coyuntura, Universidad de Chile. (1985).
- A note about money growth. Revista de Economía N° 33. (1985).
- Monetary and foreign trade situation. Revista de Economía N° 26. (1984).
- Keynes: the political economist. Revista Estudios de Economía N° 22. Universidad de Chile. (1984).
- International Reserves demand and discretionary credit policy in fixed exchange rate economies. Revista de Economía N° 23. Universidad de Chile. (1984).
- What can we learn from the Chilean Experience 1973-1983. With L. Sjaastad in 11th INTERLAKEN Seminar. (1984).
- Renegotiation of debt and its meaning. With H. Cheyre in Revista de Economía N° 12. (1983).
- Keynes: the political economist. Revista de Economía N° 13. (1983).
- A comment about criticisms. With E. Haindl and G. Parot in Revista de Economía N° 17. (1983).
- About macroeconomic policy. Revista de Economía N° 18. (1983).
- Prospects of world economy and its impact in Chile. With J. Selume in Revista de Economía N° 18. (1982).
- Behavior of monetary variables in fixed exchange rate economies. CEMLA Monetaria Vol. IV, N° 2. (1981).
- Economic policy, 1973-1979. With Jorge Cauas in Revista Realidad N° 5. (1980).
- The monetary approach of the exchange rate. Cuadernos de la CEPAL (E/CEPAL/1088). (1979).
- Expectations of price and inflation: literature review. Universidad de Chile Publicación Docente N° 27. (1979).
- Investment and growth. Universidad de Chile. (1979).
- Assessing creditworthiness of developing countries. CEMLA Monetaria Vol. II, N° 3. (1979).
- Diagnosis of the Chilean housing problem. Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Monografía N° 97. (1978).
- Alternative exchange systems in inflationary scenarios. PNUD/CEPAL. (1978).
- Funding system for housing in Chile. Universidad de Chile Documento de Investigación N°16. (1977).
- Introduction to capital markets. Estudios Monetarios III, Central Bank of Chile. (1974).
- Proximate determinants of the amount of money. Revista de Economía N° 2, Universidad de Chile. (1974).