Notable North and South American Banking and Philanthropic Families

For more than a century, the family of Julio M. Herrera Velutini has been involved in banking and financial services as well as leadership roles in the country of Venezuela. Julio Herrera Velutini continues that tradition as chairman of the board of a major Puerto Rico-based financial institution and as a philanthropist.

Throughout the Americas, banking families often make significant charitable contributions. For example, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an American banker named J. P. Morgan headed one of the world’s largest banking firms and was a generous patron of the arts. His dedication and monetary contributions were among the forces that created New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Morgan’s father was the renowned banker Junius Spencer Morgan, and his son Jack continued the family tradition of banking and philanthropy.

In today’s Latin America, the Velutinis are joined by other distinguished banking and philanthropic families that include that of Brazil’s Joseph Safra, a descendant of renowned Syrian bankers, and Colombia’s Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo. Sarmiento and his son lead Grupo Aval, which now directs about one-third of Colombia’s banking assets.