Cauldron of sexual abuse and financial scandal for Chilean Jesuits. When Jesuits have $53 billion or more to play with.
The Jesuits entrusted $53 billion of their financial assets to Moneda Asset Management, Piñera's favorite fund
An unpublished document from the Order's treasurer shows that, at least between 2010 and 2015, the Jesuits entrusted the majority of their capital to the "Campion" fund of the same fund manager that managed Sebastián Piñera's blind trusts. Furthermore, the Society of Jesus had investments in LarraínVial equivalent to $13 billion.
The financial relationship between the Society of Jesus and Moneda Asset Management was a relatively well-known fact. This has been the case since 2014—in the context of the legal dispute over the Cascadas case that pitted Julio Ponce Lerou against the fund manager—when the connection was revealed.
According to El Mercurio in June of that year, José Cox—a close associate of Sebastián Piñera, a former student at the order's Colegio San Ignacio, who had helped manage the Jesuits' assets since 2004—was the one who convinced the Order to join Moneda Asset Management, where Cox also had personal investments.
It should be noted that Cox has been close to Piñera since 1978, when he joined Citicorp. They both left the company in 1986 to form CMB. In the 1990s, Cox was close to the Concertación and collaborated in economic portfolios such as Finance and Public Works. He also held positions at Corfo and the Central Bank. In 1994, he served on the LAN Board of Directors, representing Piñera, and was part of his negotiating team for the Chispas Case. He later served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bolsa Electrónica (Electronic Stock Exchange) and as part of the leadership of Piñera's presidential campaigns in 2006 and 2010, the latter of which was successful.
This was the case until now, after Interferencia obtained access to an unpublished internal document from the Society of Jesus, which revealed that the Jesuit investment in Moneda, as of July 31, 2015, amounted to $52,991,091,757 pesos. What was unknown—even in Jesuit circles—was the figure or magnitude of the Jesuit investments, nor the proportion that went to Moneda, Piñera's preferred fund manager, which received a large portion of the blind trusts during his two terms, totaling $400 million in 2010 and $1.17 billion in 2018.
Nor was the year the relationship between the Society of Jesus and Moneda Asset Management began; 2010 coincides with the first presidential blind trust.
This remained unknown until now, after Interferencia obtained access to an unpublished internal Society of Jesus document revealing that the Jesuit investment in Moneda, as of July 31, 2015, amounted to $52,991,091,757 pesos. The document also notes that the Jesuits diversified their investment portfolio, investing $13,296,594,641 pesos in three other LarraínVial funds. This totals $66,287,686,398 pesos.
However, this figure does not correspond to the Order's financial assets in 2015, as the PowerPoint presentation titled "Meeting of Ministers and Treasurers" reports that a good part of this investment, while the Jesuits' "own funds" amounted to only $45,272,887,288 pesos in November 2015. This is because the document in question was prepared to report on the financial situation of the Jesuit Provincial Administration at a meeting on November 2, 2015, at which there was no good news.
This is because it is reported that in 2015 the budget deficit was $3.7 billion, which "is financed with the Society of Jesus' own funds." Apparently, this wasn't the first time a similar situation had occurred, as the PowerPoint also indicates that the accumulated withdrawals between 2010 and 2015 amount to $21,713,000,000 pesos.
Furthermore, in a note, the economist who made the presentation reports, probably for 2015, that "the profits from our investment funds are not enough to cover our capital withdrawals, which generates a decrease of $7.583 billion pesos in our funds." The document also reports that the accumulated return on equity between 2010 and 2015 was 52.2%.
It should be noted that the November meeting was held solely for Jesuit leaders, at a time when Cristián del Campo was the provincial of the order, while Agustín Moreira, who had been chaplain of the Hogar de Cristo, was the chief treasurer. Del Campo had only been in office for two years, having replaced Eugenio Valenzuela, who stepped down as Jesuit provincial following several accusations of abusing fellow members of the order, which were confirmed in 2019.
Regarding the main fund—Campion, owned by Moneda Asset Management—it was liquidated in 2021 along with Chiletech, and the fate of the Jesuit assets held there is unknown. Nor were they withdrawn, presumably to finance the Jesuits' current expenses. The editorial team obtained further details about the funds in LarrainVial, which were labeled in the PowerPoint presentation as FEAO, CJ, and UBS. Interferencia forwarded questions to the Society of Jesus, Moneda, and LarraínVial, but received no response by press time.
Moneda Asset Management told this outlet that, due to company policy, they cannot comment on details of the funds or their clients, even though the fund was closed a few years ago.
Interferencia also contacted the Jesuits' press office in Chile and asked questions about their funds at Moneda and their finances, but received no response.
This media outlet also forwarded its inquiries to the Financial Market Commission (CMF) regarding the Campion fund, information that was ultimately denied.
"Regarding your inquiry, we can inform you that, in accordance with Article 28 of the CMF Law, information about the participants and contribution amounts of a Private Investment Fund (FIP) is subject to confidentiality, as it involves sensitive information that could affect the economic and commercial rights of contributors," they responded via email.
Ties to the financial elite
An October 2009 report in Qué Pasa Magazine outlines the connection, through contacts, between the Jesuits and Moneda Asset. It explains that the Jesuit's treasurer at the time, former Rector of Alberto Hurtado University, decided to rely on "private" sources close to the Congregation to improve the profitability of its resources.
“Montes also has a small committee. Longer-term investment decisions are made there. It is made up of two businessmen, also Ignatians: Hugo Yaconi Merino and Diego Vidal Sánchez,” the outlet reported.
“Part of the funds are managed by a Banco Santander office in Miami, which advises various congregations in Latin America. Another portion is handled in Chile. To this end, Montes relies on four businessmen, all Ignatians. They were recruited by the priest himself and meet at least once a month. They are José Cox Donoso—former president of the Electronic Stock Exchange, investment fund manager, and close associate of Sebastián Piñera; Raimundo Valenzuela Lang, partner of Moneda Asset Management; Mario Valdivia Bernstein, partner of the salmon company Multiexport Foods and founder of Iron Mountain Chile and Excel Chile; and Arturo Ureta,” the magazine explained.
Raimundo Valenzuela Lang is the brother of the former Jesuit provincial, Eugenio Valenzuela Lang, who was accused of sexual abuse.
“Montes also has a small committee. They make the longer-term investment decisions there. It is made up of two businessmen, also Ignatians: Hugo Yaconi Merino and Diego Vidal Sánchez,” the outlet reported.
Yaconi, a businessman linked to the gas business, received the Ignatian Prize in 2008. Yaconi died in 2017. He was also very close to the Jesuit Felipe Berrios, according to El Mercurio in 2022. Berrios is currently being investigated by the Church for acts of sexual connotation against women.
It is also known that one of Sebastián Piñera's sisters, Magdalena Piñera Echeñique, is closely linked to the Jesuits. In 2017, he was part of the expanded editorial committee of Mensaje Magazine, the company's media outlet in Chile, alongside other public figures such as Claudio Orrego, current Metropolitan Governor, Manuel Antonio Garretón, and Sergio Micco, former director of the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH).
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