Ábaco Advisers shares its story

Last updated on September 13th, 2019 at 09:10 am.

Ábaco means abacus in Spanish. There are some very good reasons why Ábaco was named after this nifty piece of calculating apparatus. John Paoli, founder of Ábaco Advisers, explains, ‘Having a company name starting with the letters ab gives you a little bit of an advantage in the listings.’ It’s also very appropriate for a company dealing with financial matters, as Ábaco does.

John had been fascinated by the way he had seen the abacus used in his travels around Asian countries, ‘I was always impressed with the speed and accuracy of calculation that this very simple tool could provide.’ With this vision in mind, Ábaco was born in 1999.

Initially it was a very small business with just three employees. Pablo Arteaga, Ábaco lawyer, was one of the initial members of staff. Since then he has seen many changes and the company has grown to over 40 employees, ‘It was really frantic in the early days and we were employing a new person every month just to cope with the demand.’

As the company has grown in size so has its capacity to provide a range of services for different nationalities. Seven different languages are spoken fluently: English, Swedish, Russian, Dutch, German, French and Spanish.

Another feature that has changed significantly over the years has been the capacity of new technology to take some of the blood, sweat and tears out of administration. With the development of services such as Ábaco online, the opportunities for non-residents to keep in touch with their tax, legal and inheritance affairs has grown.

The Ábaco logo hasn’t stood still either. Luis Gimeno, from the project management department, has been closely involved with the changing image of Ábaco over the years, ‘We’ve had a few changes of logo and we’ve changed the name from Ábaco Asesores to Ábaco Advisers. We needed to make the name a little easier to pronounce and better suited to our international audience.’

Although Ábaco has grown in size it has retained its family feel. One of the newer members of staff is Oscar Paoli, who currently works in the conveyancing department, ‘I felt it was important to get to know the ropes and understand exactly how the business works at every level.’

What’s most important for everyone working at Ábaco Advisers is that the founding principles of the business remain intact, ‘The idea for Ábaco came from the need for a reputable service in what was a quickly expanding market. There were too many out there with no integrity,’ John explains, ‘We wanted Ábaco to be effective, trustworthy and accessible, just like the abacus.’