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azvalor Asset Management Letters & Research Archive

azvalor Asset Management is a Madrid deep-value boutique founded in 2015 by Álvaro Guzmán de Lázaro and Fernando Bernad, formerly the core of Bestinver's investment team in the Graham tradition. It is known for contrarian concentration in unloved cyclical assets — gold and silver miners, oil services, uranium — buying into panic and exiting once value is realized. Its flagship international fund is about 70% of firm AUM and has more than tripled since inception a decade ago; letters were quarterly from 2016-2022 and semiannual since 2023.

33 pieces · 2016–2026 · updated every Monday

2026

02-04Letter to inverstors 2H2025This report from Azvalor explains their contrarian strategy: instead of chasing AI or gold, they buy high-quality companies that are temporarily out of favor and priced far below their true worth. The…→

2025

08-12Letter to investors 1H2025This letter describes an extreme market where big tech stocks are overpriced, while sectors like coal, oil, and emerging markets are cheap but still profitable. For regular investors, the advice is to…→02-20Half-year letter 2H2024This is Azvalor's 2024 letter to investors. It warns that US stocks are overpriced and government bonds are risky. Instead, Azvalor buys unloved companies (like Spanish steel tube maker Tubacex) with…→

2024

09-12Half-year letter 1H2024This report from Spanish fund Azvalor explains how their funds invest in cheap, overlooked companies with strong earnings (e.g., price-to-earnings ratio of 8 vs. 22 for the S&P 500). They estimate an…→02-28Half-year letter 2H2023This letter says Azvalor funds trade at 55% of intrinsic value, implying 10–20% yearly returns. But market returns are uneven: the S&P 500 lost money 36% of the time, surged 10%+ 44% of the time. Thre…→

2023

07-28Half-year letter 1H2023In the first half of 2023, the market rose but only a few big tech stocks did well. Most stocks barely moved. Azvalor, a value investing firm, says their holdings trade far below what they think the c…→01-11Quarterly letter 4Q2022This report explains how Azvalor funds made big gains in 2022 by buying cheap stocks during a market crash. For example, one fund rose 45% while the market fell 9.5%. For regular investors, it shows t…→

2022

07-27Quarterly letter 2Q2022This report explains how Azvalor funds made money in the first half of 2022, when global stocks had their worst start in decades. Their secret: buying cheap assets and selling when prices rise. For ex…→05-11Quarterly letter 1Q2022This is Azvalor's Q1 2022 investment letter. They explain how their funds beat the market by buying undervalued stocks (like coal and gold miners) at prices far below their real worth. For regular inv…→02-01Quarterly letter 4Q2021This report explains how the Azvalor Blue Chips fund works. The fund's value per share is €301, but it trades at only €140, meaning there's over 110% upside potential. The manager uses a clever strate…→

2021

10-26Quarterly letter 3Q2021This report explains how Azvalor fund performed in Q3 2021. They buy stocks that are much cheaper than their true worth (like energy companies), sell them when they rise, and buy other undervalued one…→07-28Quarterly letter 2Q2021This letter from Azvalor tells investors not to sell just because the fund has gone up a lot recently. Despite a 132% gain over five quarters, the fund's annual return since launch is only 4.5%, far b…→04-26Quarterly letter 1Q2021This report from investment firm Azvalor reviews their first quarter of 2021. After a tough 2020, their funds rebounded strongly—up 113% in one case—but they believe stocks are still cheap and will ke…→01-14Quarterly letter 4Q2020This report covers how Azvalor managed its funds in Q4 2020. The key idea: they bought cheap energy stocks (like Total and Canadian Natural Resources) and tobacco stocks (like BAT and Philip Morris) w…→

2020

10-21Quarterly letter 3Q2020This report covers Azvalor's fund performance in Q3 2020. Despite net asset values falling (some funds down 20-30%), the manager argues this is a good time to buy, as the underlying companies' actual…→08-07Quarterly letter 2Q2020This report argues that value investing (buying cheap, solid companies) has underperformed growth investing (buying hot, high-growth stocks) for 13 years—the longest stretch ever. But the author belie…→06-01Quarterly letter 1Q2020This report explains how a fund handled the 2020 market crash. The key idea: despite the panic, this is the biggest opportunity in 23 years for long-term investors. Bonds and real estate are too expen…→02-12Quarterly letter 4Q2019This report from Spanish investment firm Azvalor explains why their funds underperformed in 2019 but stuck with unloved sectors like coal, oil, and uranium. They argue that markets are too focused on…→

2019

11-14Quarterly letter 3Q2019This report explains that while some old-school industries (like uranium, oil drilling, coal, and shipping) are actually improving—more contracts, rising prices—their stock prices are still falling. F…→08-19Quarterly letter 2Q2019This report says that in early 2019, the stock market was full of hype—companies like Beyond Meat had sky-high prices but no profits. Azvalor's fund, however, bought cheap, ignored stocks (like uraniu…→05-07Quarterly letter 1Q2019This report highlights a rare split in global stock markets: while the overall U.S. market is expensive (with a Shiller CAPE ratio of 29, meaning stocks are priced high relative to past earnings), Azv…→03-11Quarterly letter 4Q2018This article explains why Azvalor fund believes in regular, automatic investing (dollar-cost averaging) instead of trying to time the market. Using the 1929 crash as an example: if you started investi…→

2018

11-05Quarterly letter 3Q2018This letter from a fund manager explains two key ideas: stocks are the best long-term investment, but they're down 75% of the time (measured from past highs), so you need emotional stamina to profit.…→08-02Quarterly letter 2Q2018This is a quarterly letter from Azvalor, an investment fund, to its investors. It covers two main points: first, their fund lost a bit in early 2018, but they stress you should judge performance over…→05-10Quarterly letter 1Q2018This investment letter says market drops are actually good chances to buy cheap stocks. The author buys companies everyone else is fleeing, like OHL, which fell 30% before they bought it because its c…→02-08Quarterly letter 4Q2017This quarterly letter explains how Azvalor, an investment firm, made money in 2017 by buying unloved companies with hidden value. For example, they bought Mota Engil, a construction firm whose stock h…→

2017

11-15Quarterly letter 3Q2017This is a letter from Azvalor fund to its investors. It explains why their performance lags the market but insists on buying overlooked, cheap stocks. For ordinary investors, it means don't blindly fo…→08-01Quarterly letter 2Q2017This report covers Azvalor Iberia fund's first half of 2017. They stuck to deep value investing, avoided hot bank stocks, and kept about 20% cash to wait for better opportunities. The fund still rose…→05-22Quarterly letter 1Q2017This letter covers three things: the fund made money in Q1 but lagged the market, which they say is normal for their five-year horizon; they warn that passive index funds beating active funds may sign…→02-27Quarterly letter 4Q2016This is a letter from Azvalor, a value investing firm, to its investors. It explains how they made money in 2016 by buying great companies at low prices and holding them patiently. Their funds returne…→

2016

12-12Quarterly letter 3Q2016This is Azvalor's quarterly letter to investors. It covers three main points: the fund outperformed its benchmark; it uses Hyundai preferred shares as an example of a deeply undervalued stock with str…→08-03Quarterly letter 2Q2016This investment letter explains how Azvalor's funds beat the market in Q2 2016 by buying undervalued stocks. For example, Hyundai had more net cash than its market value, making it almost free, while…→05-02Quarterly letter 1Q2016This letter explains how Azvalor fund managers handled early 2016. Some stocks they owned shot up so fast—hitting five-year return targets in just three months—that they sold them. Meanwhile, they saw…→