CaixaBank

The bank and the holding company are structurally separated. CaixaBank is a listed commercial and retail bank, answerable to public shareholders and the ECB as supervisor. CriteriaCaixa is wholly owned by the La Caixa Foundation and manages the foundation's perpetual industrial equity portfolio. The foundation appoints CriteriaCaixa's board, which makes autonomous investment decisions focused on long-term dividend streams to fund the foundation's charitable work. The bank's CEO, Gonzalo Gortázar, does not directly manage CriteriaCaixa's portfolio.

The La Caixa Foundation is the ultimate controlling entity. It owns 100% of CriteriaCaixa and roughly 30% of CaixaBank's listed shares as of 2025, making it the bank's single largest reference shareholder. Dividends from both entities fund Spain's largest private charitable programme, which allocates over EUR 500 million annually to scientific research, social welfare, and cultural initiatives. This governance link makes CaixaBank one of the few major European banks where a significant portion of economic profit flows to a philanthropic mission rather than traditional shareholders alone.

CaixaBank Asset Management operates as a distinct commercial entity, managing mutual funds, pension plans, and discretionary mandates for third-party institutional and retail clients across Spain. It does not co-manage CriteriaCaixa's industrial equity book, which is run by a dedicated investment team within the holding company. However, VidaCaixa, the group's insurance and pensions subsidiary, is a significant institutional investor in Spanish government bonds and European fixed-income securities, deploying premiums collected from retail policyholders.

CriteriaCaixa's publicly stated investment policy, benchmarked against the foundation's ethical guidelines, avoids direct investment in companies principally engaged in controversial weapons manufacturing, coal-fired power generation, and tobacco. As a regulated bank, CaixaBank additionally restricts direct proprietary trading in certain speculative asset classes and adheres to EU sustainability disclosure requirements. The group does not operate an internal hedge fund or proprietary-trading desk of the kind that generated losses at other European universal banks.

The portfolio is historically highly concentrated: three holdings — CaixaBank, Naturgy, and Telefónica — have at times accounted for over 60% of gross asset value. Independent governance reviews have flagged this concentration as a risk, and CriteriaCaixa has responded by modestly diversifying into infrastructure funds with external co-investors such as ADIA and into selective international holdings. Nonetheless, the foundation's mandate to maintain significant Iberian industrial influence means a deliberate, permanent overweight to a small number of strategic positions.

CriteriaCaixa's investment decisions are led by its CEO, currently Isidro Fainé, alongside a board composed of banking and industrial veterans appointed by the La Caixa Foundation's patronage council. The bank's own treasury and asset-liability management is run by a team reporting to the group CFO. Gonzalo Gortázar, as CaixaBank CEO, holds ultimate executive authority over the listed bank's balance sheet but does not direct CriteriaCaixa's industrial book. The foundation's chairman serves as a bridge figure, sitting on the boards of both entities.

CriteriaCaixinha does not source venture or growth-equity deals through a traditional fund-manager model. It acquires and accumulates stakes in listed companies — often by participating in block trades, rights issues, or privatisation processes rooted in Iberian corporate restructurings. Its deal flow derives from relationships with Spanish government privatisation agencies, European utility-sector consolidation dynamics, and its position as a pre-existing reference shareholder approached by corporate issuers. It recently expanded sourcing through a formal co-investment partnership with ADIA to participate in infrastructure auctions across the Iberian Peninsula.