Three US Funds Vying To Hire Argentina’s Sergio Massa

The former economy minister and candidate would join the newly launched Renaissance Fund, according to a source with information on the matter. The firm will be investing in Latin America, excluding Argentina due to ethics regulations. The new project is a subsidiary of Greylock Capital Management, an emerging markets hedge fund based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Sergio Massa is also being coveted by two other funds, according to his press office. However, they said that “he is currently working in an institutionally ordered transition, since he will still be minister until December 10^th.” Massa is Argentina’s incumbent economy minister, and the candidate that ran against Javier Milei on Sunday’s presidential vote.

Massa was picked to head an economy “super-ministry” in 2022 by Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández, amid a full-blown crisis. In his one-year ministerial term, he pushed to reform the tax regime, sustain the trade surplus, strengthen foreign currency reserves, promote inclusive development, and lower inflation.

During his short, one-year term the economy took a hard hit from a severe drought, hurting Argentina’s key agricultural exports, at a time when foreign currencies were in desperate need—among many other woes. Massa nonetheless came up on top as Fernández’s successor to run for president this year. He was defeated by an alliance of the outsider Milei and the established right-wing party.

Before that, Massa had journeyed through a high-level career in Argentina’s political scene. It included being appointed chief of the cabinet of ministers in 2008, and mayor of Tigre, a municipality of Buenos Aires. He also created his own centre party in 2013, “Frente Renovador”. In mid-2022, President Fernández called him in to fix the economy, though he was only given one year.

“We believe Massa would be a great fit for us,” says Hans Humes, Greylock’s CEO. The two have known each other since 2017, as they discussed the country’s political situation and the resolution of the litigation against Argentina. “We know other institutions are speaking to him about future opportunities. But we have a presence in complicated situations across Latin America, and given the unique structure of our fund, we are confident this is an optimal fit for someone of his abilities.”

Renaissance Fund will focus on investing in energy, agriculture, and infrastructure across Latin America. It will launch with existing positions in debt associated with companies in the region, that will give capacity to work in debt for equity transactions. It will also be set up to provide private debt and private equity funding.

“The approach will be to help developing economies manage the marked challenges Latin American economies have faced in recent years with particular attention to ESG issues,” continues Humes, in a phone interview. On some occasions, the fund will also work to facilitate debt restructuring on a corporate or sovereign level—the latter is Greylock’s expertise.

The region has been and continues to be a hub for the production of key commodities, where Renaissance Fund plans to invest. Countries like Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are agricultural powerhouses; Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia sit atop over half of the world’s lithium reserves, crucial for the green transition; various countries are also among the top with the largest oil reserves, including Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil and Ecuador.

South America in particular can also count on abundant rivers, which in economic terms mean everything from trade to hydropower, from irrigation to freshwater reserves. The region also hosts crucial ecosystems for the stability of the climate, most notably the Amazon rainforest. However, the region is far from filling its potential. Politics have played a large hurdle, which must be navigated carefully.