Every birth brings its own story and Sigman Group has its own, which began as a child thanks to my passion for numbers and business, when I used to ask my parents’ questions such as how could TV program creators make money? If we at home, did not have to pay for TV programs. Likewise, I used to ask my relatives what families were the wealthiest in Colombia and What were they doing to earn that such amount of money? I remembered that my parents did not give me specific answers to those sorts of questions.
I confirm my interest for business when I started to study my bachelor’s degree in “Finance and Foreign Trade” in the Universidad Sergio Arboleda in 2000, under the financial support of my parents. Since the beginning of my first classes I felt that Finance was my thing, and could not have been wrong. Every subject along the finance program I got more involved especially Mathematics, Statistics, Macroeconomics, Capital Markets, Portfolio and Stock Markets, among others. Due to this interest for finance subjects I become a monitor of Macroeconomics class for Professor Alejandro Useche, who later would recommend me for my internship with Dr. Jorge Enrique Amaya Pacheco, ex president of Bank Granahorrar and Asobancaria, in his company JEAPCONS consulting and investment banking.
Road to finance
Along with my internship term (2004) and for two more years (2005-2007) I worked for Dr. Amaya, who would undoubtedly become my first professional mentor. In the company of Dr. Amaya I could learn of his excellence, determination, hard work, research, financial modeling, company and project valuation, that have been useful for my life and career.
Worldwide Seguros
Through Dr. Amaya I began to participate in a financial consulting project for a company named Worldwide Seguros, owned by Dr. Zanoni Selig and Bank BHD in the Dominican Republic. Once this project ended I started to work as a Strategic Planning Director, within Worldwide Seguros, reporting to Dr. Zanoni Selig, who became my second professional mentor. Along with Dr. Selig I could learn about passion for business, entrepreneurship, management, creativity and imagination for the development of new solutions, visions and astuteness, among other things about what it implies to run a company.
Stoct Market, Pursuing a dream
By the end of 2009 I had decided to leave my job in Worldwide Medical Assurance (Panamá) and returned to live in Bogotá with the purpose of pursuing a dream of becoming a Stock Broker. In favor of that dream I began to study in January 2010 a stock market course “Stock Exchange Operation and Capital Markets” in Asobursatil. Subsequently I presented and approved certification in financial industry regulatory authority in Colombia (AMV Colombia) (equivalent to FINRA in USA) as Operator specialized in equity trading. With this accomplished, I decided not to accept a job that was not in the stock market. Finally I got a job in Proyectar Valores Comisionista de Bolsa (2010) as a Financial Advisor inside the money desk of Ecopetrol stock. Months later this Ecopetrol stock portfolio is acquired by Global Securities Comisionista de Bolsa; I continued developing the same job for this company until 2012. In that period of time I had learnt about Colombian Stock Market, Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, Sales Management, Stock Exchange Operation and other matters.
In 2012 I left Global Securities after receiving a job offer to take on the position of Chief Financial Officer CFO of WorldWide Group, the company held several insurance companies in Central America and the Caribbean, among them Worldwide Seguros, company where I worked from 2007 to 2009. After three months of working in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic my dad passed away and my mum was diagnosed with cancer a few months later.
Returning to Colombia to begin new business
By the middle of the year 2013 I had decided to come back to Colombia and stay by my mom’s side during the surgery and her recovery. During these harsh times, I took my savings and started working as self-employed trading Forex, CFDs, Stocks, Futures Contracts, and Options among other financial instruments.
By 2014 I worked some months in Porvenir Fondo de Pensiones y Cesantias as a Financial Consultant of Voluntary Pensions. I gave this job up to go to New Zealand in order to study English for 6 months. Back to Colombia (2015) I took over some family assets and developed at the same time some financial consulting projects by referrals.
Unexpectedly, by middle of 2016, my mum’s cancer reappeared with metastasis in her lungs and she undergoes chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for the next to 2 years. Finally she passed away in December 2018.
Sigman Group is consolidated
Now my interests have changed and focused on consolidating this financial consulting business that I have developed in the last few years by referrals. For this reason, I founded Sigman Group, a company that its name represents what life has prepared me for. Sigman comes from the word Sigma, Greek alphabet letter, which corresponds to summation. Inside the Sigman logo the letter “S” is represented by the money sign $. Therefore when you read the word Sigman from right to left you have: (man) that sums (sigma) money ($). This is the meaning of what Sigman is, along with our motto “Our commitment is to give value to your business”, represents what we are.
Stock exchange operation makes reference to those transactions and financial operations made through a stock exchange between investors and issuers of securities (enterprises, government), by means of intermediaries as stock brokerage firms.
Capital market is a financial market where entreprises and government head in order to fund their capital needs with investors through long term securities.