U.S. financial giants are making strides

Several major U.S. financial services companies are cheap, according to Emory Sanders, senior portfolio manager and specialist in U.S. equities with the U.S. section of Manulife Asset Management.Mr. Sanders, who works in Boston as joint manager of the U.S. equity team based value-oriented, said that some of the large-cap stocks are trading at a discount can go up to 30% by to their share value estimated by the team.
U.S. financial institutions currently have much stronger balance sheets and are generally in better condition than at the beginning of the 2007 financial crisis, he said. "Given their strong franchises and their market dominance, they are well placed to take maximum advantage of the improving U.S. and global economies. "
In the United States, he said, the diversified U.S. financial institutions that have local franchises strong retail sales benefit the strengthening of the U.S. market and the increased demand for mortgages as a result.
Globally, the U.S. investment banks "participate in the increased volume of transactions of shares of the fixed income, most of the increase in mergers and acquisitions. "
Another sector of the U.S. stock market, according to Mr. Sanders, offers value is that of information technology. Again, several large global companies are trading "at a significant discount to their estimated value by our team and have good growth prospects. "
All in all, Mr. Sanders believes that the assessment of the U.S. market as a whole, as measured by the Russell 3000 Index, is "attractive." This index has produced a total return of 21% since the beginning of 2013 to the last trading day, and reached new heights.
Nevertheless, he said, the Russell 3000 is currently trading at a ratio of 17 times its estimated earnings per share for 2013, and 14 times its estimate for 2014.
"The range of price / earnings ratios over the past 10 years from 11 to 22. "This puts the P / E index for 2013 and 2014" in the middle of the range of 10 years. "
Of the 20 years, Sanders said, "The P / E ratio of current B Russell 3000 is almost 30% less than the P / B average during this period."
At Manulife, the appointment of Mr. Sanders has a responsible role in the Manulife U.S. All Cap Equity Fund and U.S. Equity Large Cap Value Class. These products, along with their incorporated versions are managed in collaboration with Walter McCormick.
The American team of Manulife responsible actions baseline focuses on "financially sound companies with strong competitive advantages and sustainable cash flows, which are traded on assessments offering both good protection to reduction and good yield potential. "
Under strict discipline, the team calculated a value for the target company. His goal is to buy the stock when it is trading at a discount to the value and re-evaluate the investment when the action reaches this evaluation.
The U.S. All Cap Equity Fund, with 50 names, a landmark for the Russell 3000. "The portfolio may consist of any combination of actions large, mid and small capitalization," says Sanders.
Currently, its composition is 67% of large-cap stocks (ie more than $ 10 billion capitalization, the rest of its assets in shares is small and mid caps. Portfolio is fairly concentrated, its top 10 holdings accounting for nearly 50%.
From the point of view of its sectoral composition, the portfolio's overweight in technology stocks (30% against 17% for the index), financial services (26% against 18%) and consumer goods (21 % against 13%). "We do not own shares of utilities, telecommunications services or materials," says Sanders.
Two large diversified U.S. financial institutions are among the top 10 holdings are JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM BAC. "JPMorgan is trading at about 80% of its estimated value, and Bank of America to 77%," says Sanders.
Each bank has a market share of about 10% of deposits in checking accounts and savings accounts in the United States, and should enjoy strong growth in loans and mortgages as the housing market continues to improve, says Sanders. In addition, he said, rising U.S. interest rates will benefit the banks. "The net interest margins, the gap between deposit rates and lending rates, then expand as interest rates rise. "
In addition, JPMorgan, which has a particularly large presence in the global investment banks, should benefit from increased demand for investments and other banking services worldwide.
Also associated with this global trend, there is the well-known investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, also among the top 10 holdings.
"This is one of the top five investment banks in the world, which has significant competitive advantages, given its size and global reach," says Sanders. For example, Goldman Sachs has a strong presence in the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China, he says. "There are high barriers to entry in these markets. "
Goldman Sachs also has "a remarkable pool of talent," says Sanders. The action, he said, is trading at 74% of its estimated value team.
In technology, the top 10 holdings include Apple Inc.AAPL and Qualcomm Inc. QCOM. Seventy percent of Apple's revenue comes from wireless services, what to add a strong brand and an excellent distribution network, said Sanders. "The use of smartphones is expected to triple in 10 years to come," he said. The action is "cheap". It is currently trading at "65% of its estimated value."
Qualcomm is a model company charges "with fairly predictable cash flows, says Sanders. She invented an innovative wireless technology used in all smartphones, and continues to invest in research and development to ensure that the technology remains cutting edge. " The stock trades at 71% of the value which grants team.
As for the sector consumer discretionary, the largest having the All Cap U.S. Equity Fund is Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, "the largest retail company in the online world," in a segment of retail market that Mr. Sanders has considerable potential for growth. "Amazon, with its wide range of products and low prices, is well positioned to gain market share in a growing market segment. "
This also argues in his favor, he said, is the founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has a large share of the company. "He and aligns its interests with those of other shareholders. "The stock is trading at 80% of its estimated team Manulife value.