Responsible Value investment

Our philosophy

We strongly believe that financial markets are prone to excesses and that market valuations can significantly deviate from the intrinsic value of a company.
As such opportunities can arise for investors willing to take a long-term view to equity investments as any stock can exhibit an undervaluation to intrinsic Value at time.
It is our core belief that Value investing can be broader than the traditional boundaries of low PE ratio or low Price to Book. In any sector, for companies growing or not, by choosing the appropriate valuation ratio, you can identify undervaluation.
However, undervaluation is not necessarily an opportunity. By analyzing the medium-term catalysts embedded in a company’s activity, you can sort opportunities from risks and identify those stocks likely to reduce the undervaluation in an equity investment horizon.
We believe that by having a 360-degree analysis of a company taking in account intrinsic Value, Balance Sheet strength and ESG you can identify “Value” opportunities.

Responsible Value investing^® approach

At the core of its investment process, METROPOLE Gestion seeks to identify securities that are undervalued compared to their intrinsic Value and that present a catalyst likely to reduce this undervaluation.

This approach is strictly applied by the whole team of portfolio managers collegiately. In addition, METROPOLE Gestion has been enriching its investment philosophy since 2008 by formalizing ESG integration in the investment process and engaging actively with companies.

Our approach translates into a 360° analysis of the company takes into account three aspects:

• financial analysis,
• balance sheet analysis,
• ESG analysis.

The management approach is characterized by a companies’ analysis of its industrial value and normative margin levels and is applied to all types of sectors with no bias.

What we stand for

• High conviction investment management,
• A solid and proven Value expertise,
• A dedicated team,
• An integration of ESG criteria since 2008,
• 20 years of track record.

Our strategies

METROPOLE delivers its Responsible Value investing approach in three sub-strategies for clients:

METROPOLE European Value Equities
A concentrated portfolio of 30 to 40 undervalued stocks with solid ESG* credentials. The portfolio is invested in European stocks (European Union, United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland) from any market capitalizations above EUR 100m.

METROPOLE Eurozone Value Equities
A concentrated portfolio of 35 to 45 undervalued stocks with solid ESG* credentials. The portfolio is invested in stocks from the Euro zone with a market capitalization above EUR 5bn.

METROPOLE European Small Cap Value Equities
A concentrated portfolio of 40 to 50 undervalued stocks with solid ESG* credentials. The portfolio is invested in small and mid-cap European stocks (European Union, United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland) from market capitalizations between EUR 100m and EUR 4bn.
*(proprietary ESG rating methodology on a Best-in-class/Best effort basis)