As one of Belgium’s most influential investors, Frank Monstrey knows the ins and outs of developing projects, finding the right financial resources, and ensuring the success of companies. His most recent project, ‘Tenerga’, focuses on alternative energy solutions, such as geothermal energy. It has the potential to become a serious market leader. “Geothermal energy is not very common yet in Belgium. The current sustainable energy industry mostly concentrates on wind and solar energy as the main options for alternative energy. My aim is to make geothermal energy and its many advantages well-known across a larger audience.”
Sustainable energy
After successfully selling some major shares in 2017, Frank Monstrey initially thought he could take a break from work and investing. Yet already at the start of 2018, he was lured right back into the world of investing. He took over his first company in renewable and sustainable energy. “Being an entrepreneur is not something you can simply switch off. Either entrepreneurship is in your blood or it is not. I realised I am only 54, and retiring already would drive me crazy. I always need to do something! Hence why I started Tenerga,” the businessman proclaims.
As fossil fuels are running out, Tenerga explores alternative energy solutions such as geothermal energy. To put it simply, geothermal energy is the thermal energy which is stored in the earth. Through steam turbines, the thermal energy converts to electricity. This electricity can be used to either preheat or cool down buildings. “Tenerga will not be used for the preheating of individual houses. It targets buildings such as business offices, hotels, hospitals, and large apartment blocks,” Monstrey elaborates.
Career
Of course, Frank Monstrey’s career did not happen overnight. However, already at a young age, it became apparent that Monstrey had great potential. After completing his Business Administration studies in Leuven, Monstrey participated in an excellence program. This program brought along the opportunity to gain work experience abroad.
In 1989, he started working in Shanghai for the General Bank of Belgium. “The bank was greatly involved in the financing of large investment projects, such as infrastructure projects for both the Turkish government and Turkish companies. This was the period when I gained most of my contacts.” After expanding his knowledge of investments and project development, Frank Monstrey decided it was time to start for himself. He left the bank. In 1993, he began to engage in several projects in Turkey. “At that point, the Turkish economy was in the middle of total restructuring, which was in my favour. Next, I moved on to projects in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus, and Russia.”
Monstrey had his own office in Istanbul. Not much later, he also owned one in Turkmenistan, with a large employment team working for him. After living in Istanbul for ten years, he moved back to Belgium so he could spend more time with his family. “This didn’t mean I gave up my position. I was based in Belgium and continued all activities from there. I commuted between Brussels and Istanbul up to four times a month.”
Nostrum Oil & Gas
In 2004, Frank Monstrey took over a small gas and oil company that was about to go bankrupt. Monstrey bought the business and named his new energy company “Nostrum Oil & Gas.” Little did he know this impulsive takeover was about to raise his career to another level. “Although the company did set up a strategy, it previously lacked sufficient funding to work it out properly. In fact, there was not enough capital at all. That’s where I stepped in and took over the business. In order to raise its capital, I then started an investment program. I managed to expand the company to 1000 employees, with a production of 43,000 barrels of oil a day.”
Nostrum Oil & Gas soon became so time-consuming that the Belgian businessman decided to get less involved in other projects. Instead, he put all his time and energy into bringing Nostrum Oil & Gas to the London stock market. Eventually, in 2017, Monstrey sold all his shares in the company.
Private life
Besides expanding Tenerga, his geothermal energy company, Frank Monstrey is the chairman of the golf club The National, near Brussels. “Instead of your usual golf club, we designed The National in such a modern and contemporary way that it reaches out to the new generation of golfers. The world of golf is going through a massive change, and the golfers of today are definitely very different from the previous generation. Though I think of the club more as a hobby than as an actual company.”
And of course, it helps that Frank Monstrey is a great fan of playing golf himself. Other spare time activities consist of reading, visiting operas, and going on holidays in countries around the Mediterranean Sea.