Top value investor Chuck Akre says that, while the 2008 financial crisis has led him to incorporate more of his macroeconomic views into his investment decisions, fundamental analysis remains the key to good investing.

“Fundamental analysis is the most important,” Akre said when asked whether technical analysis, due diligence, or news items were most important to him in a recent Q&A with GuruFocus.com readers. “One needs to know what one owns as an investor. Of course if speculation is your game, you can try anything.”

Akre does talk about the economic climate, however, saying that he’s concerned about high levels of unemployment and underemployment, which he says are holding back the recovery. “This backdrop quite logically will affect the investment climate,” he says. “[But] I have no prediction about how any of our investments will perform over the balance of the year (or even next year for that matter), but I do know that each will gain in economic value per share both this year and next. How the market values that is unknown.”

Akre also discusses broader portfolio strategy and approach, and he analyzes a number of individual stocks in his portfolio.