What are the main new features of this edition of the Latibex Forum?
We are going to have a Latibex Forum concentrated in one session, on the 18th, and yet a broader meeting between investors and companies, lasting two days, 18th and 19th. We have more than 80 investors from practically all of Europe, including some from outside Europe, the United States in particular. There are more companies almost than ever, because this meeting between companies and investors, we have fifty companies, half of them are from Latin America, they are basically online for the first time since the pandemic. This has facilitated the participation of more investors and more companies, but it seemed very important to us to maintain that point of personal connection and maintain all the great topics that we usually discuss in the Latibex forums, with the focus this year on some other issues, also physical, here at the Palacio de la Bolsa, and therefore we held a series of colloquiums and debates throughout all the sessions.
What do companies and investors value most about this event?
I believe that this personalized connection that allows the investor to delve deeper into the company’s plans, which also allows the company to generate trust with investors. And then, in general terms, there is a group of investors, some are not investors, it is public, scholars, intermediaries, analysts, who highly value the Ibero-American situation, how the countries are, how the markets are, where you can best invest, which sectors are the favorites… and that is also highly appreciated by investors and general attendees at the forum.
What topics will be addressed at the Ibero-American Investment Meeting?
On the one hand we have the two traditional topics beyond the opening itself, where we will be accompanied by the Secretary of State for Ibera America, Susano Sumelzo and the president of Santander Spain, Luis Isasi and our own CEO, Juan Flames, but beyond that more formal part, we will have a panel on the macroeconomics of the region, which I believe is a magnificent opportunity to review what is happening, which is traditionally interesting. We will also have the investors’ point of view, a panel with different fund managers of all types from Ibera America, from Mexico, from Argentina, from Colombia, Chile… and then we are going to focus on a phenomenon that we think is very interesting, which is That investment flow that has traditionally come from Spain to Latin America is now complemented by the flow in the opposite direction.. We are receiving in Spain a flow of investment that this year, by the way, has been a record and that has accumulated more than 60,000 million of investment, that size has doubled in the last decade and comes from the entire region, there are 20 countries investing, there are more than 600 companies that have been created new or that have been acquired by Ibero-American capital, led in terms of country by Mexico, followed by Colombia, Peru, Brazil, but also very interesting with a sector at the head, the of technology. Companies that are digital natives, that are not the traditional Ibero-American raw materials companies and that we are seeing that is in full swing.
That is why we have dedicated two large panels precisely to that, Ibero-American companies that have established themselves in Spain as, in principle, a bridgehead for investing and expanding throughout Europe, and logically also in Spain. And the opposite direction, Spanish companies from other sectors and other sizes, which are not the traditionally most striking ones, which we all have in mind, and which continue to go towards Latin America to expand, to grow, to be more efficient. That is where we are going to focus fundamentally.
What role can Spanish capital markets play in the growth plans of Ibero-American companies in Europe?
It is essential that we know, from the Spanish capital market, to offer solutions to these companies that we mentioned that are increasingly entering Europe through Spain. Solutions, I mean, capital or debt. In short, financial solutions that allow them to leverage their growth with the help of the capital market.
Many of these companies, I mentioned, are digital natives, they are companies with a very open philosophy, which have no problem incorporating capital. The challenge is to also identify investors in Spain who may be interested in supporting these companies because they consider that the growth they are going to have and, therefore, the performance of profits in the medium term is very important. I think that is the trend that we are going to see in the coming years. That is the challenge we have in the capital market in Spain, and I would say that it is a magnificent opportunity to consolidate and grow our own market.