About the BBVA Research

In order to adapt economic research to the needs of a banking group with a growing international presence and to respond to the challenge of evaluating increasingly globalised economic developments, BBVA  Research is structured into of the following areas, under the management of Jorge Sicilia:

- The Developed Economies Unit, with Rafael Doménech as chief economist, which aims to bolster research on developed economies, mainly Europe and the US, as well as focus on the Spanish economy in the context of an increasingly significant European framework. BBVA Research is a pioneer in research on the Spanish economy. The best way to maintain this tradition is to produce research that reflects Spain’s growing integration into Europe. This division comprises:

• The Spain Unit, under the management of Miguel Cardoso, whose main job is to carry out a global and structural analysis of the Spanish economy, of its main economic sectors and of the state of its regional economies. Publications include: "Spain Economic Outlook”, "Spain Consumption Outlook", “Catalonia Outlook”, “Andalusia Outlook”, “Galicia Outlook” and “Basque Country Outlook”.

• The Europe Unit, under the management of Miguel Jiménez, which conducts research on the euro zone economy, with special emphasis on the situation of the main economies, following the crisis in the peripheral countries and governance and institutional reform within the EU.  Among the unit’s publications, "Europe Economic Outlook" provides a quarterly review of the main themes affecting the euro zone. It also includes research on the UK, and pays special attention to the Portuguese economy.

• The United States Unit, whose chief economist is Nathaniel Karp in Houston, which focuses on analysis of the US economy and Federal Reserve monetary policy. In macroeconomic analysis, the team creates models and forecasts for growth, inflation and monetary policy. The unit pays special attention to the regional outlook and sector analysis, including the real estate market, the financial system and its regulation. Noteworthy publications include “FED Watch”, which follows Federal Reserve policy, and "US Economic Watch", which provides in-depth analysis on a number of economic subjects. The focus features analyse themes such as credit, unemployment, public finances and local economies, with special emphasis on the Sunbelt states where BBVA has operations.

- The Emerging Economies Unit, headed up by Alicia García Herrero, which aims to consolidate BBVA Research’s emerging market research, with special attention paid to South America and Asia, along with Emerging Europe, the Middle East and the EAGLES. This unit comprises:

• The Latam Unit, under the management of Juan Manuel Ruiz in Madrid, whose objective is to consolidate the work that BBVA Research has been doing on the South American economies by extending its cross-regional analysis. This unit includes the BBVA Research teams of Argentina (chief economist Gloria Sorensen), Colombia (chief economistJuana Téllez), Chile (chief economist Jorge Selaive), Peru (headed up by Hugo Perea) and Venezuela (chief economist Oswaldo López).

• The Mexico Unit, under the management of Carlos Serrano in Mexico City, which carries out a comprehensive monitoring of the country’s economy. It provides in-depth analysis of sector and regional matters, focusing more on the banking, real estate, automobile and infrastructure sectors, as well as pensions and immigration. In these, it analyses the situation and make forecasts about activity, savings, financing and conducts studies on structural aspects that allow it to make proposals for an improved regulatory framework. Recommended reading includes “Mexico Real Estate Watch”, “Mexico Regional Sectorial Outlook”, “Mexico Migration Outlook” and “Mexico Banking Outlook”.

• The Mexico Macroeconomic Analysis Unit, also from Mexico City, which is in charge of monitoring, analysing and forecasting current and structural economic matters of the Mexican economy, activity, demand, price and financial variables, such as interest rates and exchange rates. The team of economists in Mexico pays special attention to public policy and its assessment. In addition to specific reports, monetary policy and market analysis, the "Mexico Economic Outlook" regularly includes the latest analysis on the economic situation and outlook for the country.  

• The Asia Unit, managed by Stephen Schwartz, chief economist for Asia. The team is made up of economists based in Hong Kong. It closely follows China and Hong Kong, as well as Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

• The Cross-Country Emerging Markets Unit, managed by Alvaro Ortiz,which coordinates cross border emerging markets research, covering non Asian or Latin American countries, like Turkey.

The main reports put out by this Unit are: “Latin America Watch”, “China Economic Outlook”, “Asia Economic Outlook”, “Emerging Economies Economic Outlook”, "EAGLEs Quarterly Report", real estate reports for South America and China and various country reports.

- The Financial Systems and Regulation Unit, with Santiago Fernández de Lis as chief economist, which follows financial systems and regulatory trends, and analyses the different countries’ pension systems, with a special focus on Latin America. This Unit comprises:

• The Financial Systems Unit, headed up by Ana Rubio, whose job is to analyse trends in financial system in the different geographic regions to detect common themes, risks and opportunities. This unit is responsible for modelling financial system variables.

• The Regulation and Public Policies Unit, led by María Abascal, which was created to address the need to analyse new regulatory and supervisory proposals on a global scale and, especially their impact on the financial system. Regulatory changes are large-scale and have significant repercussions; therefore, coordinating efforts is essential. For this reason, BBVA has created a top level Regulatory Committee to anticipate such changes.

• The Pensions Unit, led by David Tuesta, which analyses the viability of pension systems, looks at reform processes and suggests possible future schemes based on prevailing demographic and economic trends. To this end, it has a dedicated team of economists specialised in pensions which works in close coordination with BBVA’s Pensions and Insurance Americas Unit. This unit publishes a Pensions Outlook and various studies and working papers.

BBVA Research also has three global units:

• The Economic Scenarios Unit,  led by Julián Cubero, is in charge of analysing global economic drivers, collating all the analysis of the other Units and setting the research agenda for global themes. Publications include “Global Economic Outlook".

• The Financial Scenarios Unit, headed by Sonsoles Castillo, which generates short- and medium-term forecasts for a broad range of financial variables. This in turn provides inputs and gives overall coherency to the macroeconomic reports published by the various units of BBVA Research. These scenarios are used as a benchmark for different BBVA Group activities. This unit also coordinates interdisciplinary research efforts.

• The Innovation and Processes Unit, headed by Clara Barrabés, which is a support and coordination unit with close ties to other areas of BBVA holding. This Unit channels department innovation, in coherence with the Group’s general policy.