Coronavirus: financial analysis X

Value investing still makes sense (and it always will)

Value investors don’t look for stocks that seem cheap from a statistical or accounting point of view. They seek out stocks that are genuinely undervalued. Luis García, a MAPFRE AM manager, explains the origins of value investing, its different iterations, such as deep value investing, and how panic can impact the proper application of this methodology.

Challenges beyond “Whatever it Takes”

Gonzalo de Cadenas-Santiago, Director of Macroeconomics and Financial Analysis at MAPFRE Economics, discusses the potential consequences of the German Constitutional Court’s recent ruling on the ECB’s quantitative easing (QE) program that began in 2015. In his view, this could have implications for the very nature of the Union itself.

“Prudence when it comes to companies with unprecedented index weights”

Strategies need to be tailored to the profile of each individual investor, but we should never lose sight of the long-term. In an interview with Radio Intereconomía, Alberto Matellán, Chief Economist at MAPFRE Inversión, issued words of caution when it comes to companies that are starting to attain excessive weight in stock market indices, primarily American companies.

Reopening the world: beware of false starts

Ludovic Subran, Euler Hermes Economist and Solunion Board Director, explains that, in addition to the economic impact of the lockdowns to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, there are uncertainties regarding the new normal we are heading toward, in which new patterns of individual and corporate consumption and organization will shape a new economic outlook. In this article, he shares the company’s forecasts.

“Not as many people have needed to dip into pension savings due to ERTEs as the industry feared.”

At the end of March, the Spanish government announced that workers affected by ERTEs (Expediente de Regulación Temporal de Empleo — temporary layoffs) would be able to access the savings stored in their pension plans in advance. Álvaro Anguita, Managing Director of MAPFRE AM, told EXPANSIÓN (a Spanish economics and business newspaper) that the impact of this had so far been less than feared; there had been hardly any requests from participants.

Disability: How to plan for our loved ones’ futures

MAPFRE and its partner Abante held an online meeting on the key issues to bear in mind for financial planning in relation to family members with disabilities. Alberto Matellán, Chief Economist at MAPFRE Inversión, stressed the importance of having a job when it comes to leading a full life. And with this in mind, the Inclusión Responsable Fund was established.