Music lover, tireless reader, man of culture, José Manuel Fonseca is a manager gifted with unusual personal traits. A humanist, born in the seaside town of Matosinhos, he grew up in a family deeply involved in fishing, under the guiding influence of his godfather, an uncle who was himself a lover of music and a figure of high repute in Portuguese intellectual circles. Obviously attentive to trends outside a rural, backwards country subjugated by a single-party dictatorship, he soon realized that he lived in a country cordoned off from the world, a monochrome island.

He was 14 in 1971 when he embarked on his first international adventure. José went on a European tour with a secondary school friend, visiting France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Many other trips would leave an impression on him. Portuguese people that young seldom travelled at the time.

“When we arrived in Paris it felt like landing on Mars! We were enthralled by the girls in miniskirts. Coca-Cola, which you couldn’t get in Portugal, tasted like freedom. And the newsstands? They had all these papers and magazines on all sorts of topics. We perused L’Humanité almost dreading some agent of the Portuguese secret police would be spying on us. You had longhaired boys, hamburgers sold on the street. It was in Paris that I visited the first major supermarket I ever saw — the Prisunic!” Everything blossomed with colour and life.

Later, while at university, he would visit France every summer for the grape harvest in Bordeaux. Again, this was an unusual experience for Portuguese youths at the time. He recalls those days fondly.

He still travels all the time, mostly for business. Sometimes he seizes the opportunity to relive his youthful experiences and share a few of them with his children, including an unforgettable trip to Amsterdam — for four consecutive nights he slept under a bridge at the Vondelpark with the hippie community.

“These travels made me understand how perspectives are relative, that the world and its cultures are so diverse, and meeting different people, facing other realities, both enriches and humbles you,” says the MDS Group CEO.

Now holding a degree as an economist, he began his career in the Coordination Committee for the North Region, headed at the time by Mr Valente de Oliveira, a major influence on him. José Manuel Fonseca then turned his hand to banking, joining the then-market leader bank, Banco Português do Atlântico, where he spearheaded the first bancassurance project in Portugal. He founded and directed one of the first pension fund management firms in Portugal and would later become president of Real Seguros.

He also created APOGERIS, the Portuguese Association of Risk and Insurance Management, which he led for over 10 years. José Manuel served as vice-president of Ferma (European Federation of Risk Management Associations) and sat at the board of the US-based CIAB (Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers).

José Manuel Fonseca chaired the Casa da Música in Porto between 2006 and 2014 and still chairs the Casa da Arquitectura (House of Architecture) in Matosinhos, his home town. On the City Council, he served as vice-mayor and as councilman responsible for the culture brief. For 10 years, he was President of Leixões Sport Club.

At MDS, much as in any other place he worked, he did his utmost to think outside of the box and act accordingly. Today, he proudly steers a happy, open company that all other peers in the market look up to. “A company’s culture is something you feel, something you live. MDS is culturally open, favours intense collaboration and a humanist perspective. We’re open-minded, we accept that innovation can originate with anybody, not just the people at the top.”

When you ask whether there are any dreams yet to fulfil, he smiles. “I would like to own my own bookshop. I’ve been building it in my head for years. Take care of it, smell the books, talk to readers, help them out.”

Who knows? Maybe one day he will.

Snapshot

Is there any place you haven’t visited yet?

Egypt. I must go to see Egypt. I’d also like to visit Iraq and Iran.

Does that relate to your taste for adventure?

No, it’s all about my education and upbringing. I grew up admiring and understanding the importance and beauty of Greek, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian civilizations. Much of what we are today was seeded there.

Do you read several books at a time, or just one?

Lots of them. I can’t help myself.

Is there an absolute favourite?

Tons, but I would name the works of poet Eugénio [de Andrade], Camões’s sonnets, and [Constantine P.] Cavafy. That’s a difficult question, I don’t want to overlook anybody. A recent read made quite an impression on me — East West Street by Philippe Sands.

Are you all about classical music, or do you like to switch things up a bit?

My musical culture is essentially classical. Only recently have I discovered jazz. I love Chico Buarque and the Beatles, I probably know most of their work by heart. The Beatles were there for all of my youth alongside Mozart, Mahler, Bernstein. There are major rock bands I admire, like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Queen.

Is there any risk you would deem unacceptable?

Yes! To stop rooting for Benfica FC!