Fast-growing Spanish Value manager azValor has opened a representative office in London to boost its research capability, increase capacity and to provide greater access to target corporates.
The non-regulated office, in London’s West End, will be headed by Michael Alsalem, who joins with immediate effect from Ledbury Partners, where he launched a European fund focusing on deep value and other special situation investments.
Previously Alsalem worked as co-portfolio manager and senior analyst at firms including Highbridge Capital and Kingdon Capital Management in New York and London. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 with a BSc In Mechanical Engineering.
The azValor London office will be run by the parent company of the asset manager and it will represent the only Spanish independent asset manager based in London following the withdrawal of other firms in recent years.
Alsalem said: “London will always be an important financial centre and I am delighted to be joining the azValor team, whom I have known for many years for its rigorous and differentiated investment approach.
“With the implementation of MIFiD II, it is important to have direct contact with investment targets and build that into the value we offer our co-investors, and I look forward to developing that access and capability.”
azValor Asset Management was founded as an SGIIC (Sociedad Gestora de Instituciones de Inversión Colectiva) in 2015 by a group of experienced Spanish investment professionals, to focus on long term Value investment in listed equities. It now employs 37 professionals and has more than 16,000 clients and some €1.7 billion in assets under management in four investment funds, two pension plans and two Luxembourg SICAVs.
Before founding azValor Asset Management, CEO and CIO Álvaro Guzmán de Lázaro spent 12 years at Spain’s Bestinver Asset Management, where he was a portfolio manager together with azValor co-founder Fernando Bernad.
Guzmán said, “We are very happy to introduce Michael to our clients as we think about investment in very similar ways. His assistance in broadening and deepening our research capability from London will be most helpful as we continue to seek undervalued companies across our markets. “
Notes to Editors
azValor is an independent Spanish asset management boutique, founded in 2015 by a group of experienced investment professionals. It now has four funds, accounting for some €1.7 billion assets under management.
Led by CEO and CIO Álvaro Guzmán de Lázaro and Fernando Bernad, the managers adopt a high conviction Value investing philosophy. This high conviction, active management approach, involves exhaustive analysis of stocks within a defined universe to uncover good businesses with sustainable competitive advantages and a high return on capital employed. Guzmán and Bernad seek companies whose intrinsic value is not reflected in their share prices and are managed by executives who look after the interests of shareholders.
From a customer perspective, azValor is a classic value investment house whose aim is to maximise long-term returns on investments and minimise the risks of permanent losses for its clients. Crucially, its executives are co-invested with clients, ensuring a true alignment of interests.
For more information about azValor Asset Management, please go to www.azvalor.com.
Performance since launch –
azValor’s latest available NAV dates to 29/12/2017, the exact ITD performance being:
azValor Internacional FI: +19.27%; benchmark: MSCI Europe Net TR : +11.81%, (Inception date: 13/11/2015).
azValor Iberia FI: +35.96%; benchmark: 85% IGBMT 15% PSI 20: +9.98% (inception date: 13/11/2015).
Mimosa Capital Sicav, azValor International “I”: +27.07%; benchmark: +14.58% (inception date: 18/12/2015)
2. Compliance Notes
The information provided is copyright of azValor Asset Management SGIIC, S.A.U. whose registered office is Pº de la Castellana 110 – 3ª planta, 28046 Madrid.
azValor Asset Management SGIIC, S.A., as well as the products and services it provides, are subject to the legislation in force and under the supervision of the Spanish funds regulator Comisión Nacional de Mercado de Valores (CNMV) and other regulatory bodies.
This communication is specifically written for use only by financial journalists. It has been prepared solely for information purposes and is not a solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. The information on which the document is based has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, and in good faith, but we have not independently verified such information and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to their accuracy. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice and the views expressed are those of the fund manager at the time of writing, and may have since changed.
Please note that the prices of mutual funds and shares, and the income from them, can fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount originally invested. This can be as a result of market movements and also of variations in the exchange rates between currencies. Past performance does not guarantee or predict future performance.
azValor accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any consequential loss of any kind arising out of the use of this document or any part of its contents. The use of this document should not be regarded as a substitute for the exercise by the recipient of his or her own judgment.
For further information please contact:
John Morgan
Fortuna Asset Management Communications
Tel: 07769 262272
Email: john@fortunaamc.co.uk