Now, book value is nowhere near perfect, but neither is it to be neglected, so neglect book value,
particularly tangible book value at your peril.
Finally, looking at valuation, European banks traded at a material discount to
tangible book value, one standard deviation3 below their historic forward price - earnings multiple, and near a 20 - year low relative to global banking peers as the year came to a close.4 We are also finding select financial sector
values in Asia, in both mature, under - earning banking markets like South Korea and Singapore, as well as underpenetrated, growth - oriented markets like China (
particularly in insurance) and India (
particularly in banking).