Bestinver, the largest independent asset manager of financial groups in Spain, held its annual conference this Thursday and wanted to emphasize a message: despite the fact that the Ibex increases by 14% over the year, making it one of the most bullish indices in Europe “It still has a long way to go”, until reaching the 16,000 points that it almost touched in 2007. This is what Ricardo Seixas said , director of Iberian equities. from the investment company Acciona, which stressed that Spain has ceased to be “the ugly duckling” of the Old Continent.
Seixas highlighted that the results of Spanish companies have been higher than the European average and market expectations, and highlighted that the valuation differential continues to be favorable to Spain, because trading at 10 times earnings versus 13 times on European markets.
“These good conditions in the Iberian market have been capitalized almost exclusively by the five main ibex stocks, leaving the rest of the stocks significantly more undervalued than at the start of the year. A context which offers numerous opportunities”, a- he emphasized in his speech, where he explained that this year’s IPOs, like that of Puig, show that “there are many high-quality companies that will continue to nourish the Iberian market.”
Seixas assured that at Bestinver Bolsa they have a very diversified portfolio because “we find opportunities in many sectors. There are many small and medium-sized companies that have not grown as much as the larger ones and are trading at very attractive valuations, such as Almirall or Jerónimo Martins. However, these companies are doing their homework, improving their margins, reducing their debt and strengthening their international expansion,” the manager stressed.
Bestinver International
This good perception of stocks is not only limited to the Iberian market but also to international stocks, of which Tomás Pintó, responsible for this portfolio at Bestinver, once again highlighted the fact that the rise of stocks Passive management allows you to take advantage of opportunities in an increasingly short-term market.
“Passive investment, the proliferation of thematic baskets and ETFs make markets more volatile and inefficient. This is the ideal environment for long-term investing. Passive management is a major ally for value investors. For us “Volatility is synonymous with opportunity,” said Pintó, who highlighted the entry of Reckitt, Barclays or Unilever and the rise of Heineken or Philips as the main movements of Bestinver Internacional, where they undid the position of Bayer and Booking and they reduced their weighting in Meta or Pandora, among other companies.
For the manager, this fund, one of the house’s emblematic products, should double its value in the coming years. “With a portfolio of companies whose profits will grow by almost 75% and which trade at a 50% discount to the indices, We estimate that the reasonable potential of the fund is 100%. Our figures indicate that the cumulative sales of the portfolio companies will grow by almost 30% in four or five years, while profits will increase by 75%”, said Pintó in his speech, for whom the fund’s portfolio is trading at a discount of close to 50% of the valuation of the indices.
“There is no better proof of the cheapness of our companies than the rate of repurchase of their own shares that they carry out themselves. At a rate never seen before in Bestinver funds”, emphasized the manager international shares of asset manager Act. .
Bestinver’s investment director, Mark Giacopazzi, was keen to point out that, since the integration of the new investment team almost five years ago, “the cumulative profitability of Bestinfond and Bestinver Internacional is 85%, and that Bestinver Bolsa is 75%,” while Bestinver North America, our most recent launch, is up 46% since launch. »
Golden age of active management
According to him, a new “golden age” for active value management is approaching. “Markets are at the start of a phase of improving productivity, good economic growth, falling rates and moderate inflation, with a very positive impact on corporate profits and stock markets in the medium to long term”, but for “If active managers are capable of achieving the returns we seek, we must remember how dangerous it is to pay too high a price for a company rather than invest in a company obsolete The coming years will require active managers to invest in companies that can compete in dynamic businesses and stocks as Warren Buffett said, investing while looking in the rearview mirror is as dangerous as driving. looking in the rearview mirror,” he said.
For his part, Eduardo Roque, director of bonds of the manager, explained that the application of active management in the debt portfolio has also borne fruit, as shown by Bestinver Renta recording a profitability of 14% above of its reference index. “At Bestinver, we are pioneering the application of value investing in fixed income and demonstrating that it is the right strategy. Despite the volatility of the fixed income environment, our funds are reaching historic highs,” he said.
The manager was keen to emphasize that it already has nearly 6,800 million euros in assets under management from more than 46,000 participants, distributed between 5,256 million variable-income funds, 978 million fixed-income funds. and 422 million in alternative assets. Furthermore, Rafael Amil, commercial director of Bestinver, said that 70% of unitholder operations are already carried out through digital channels, even though the company has organized 50 conferences. ad hoc with investors in all the cities where it is present.
