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Our team

A team with a shared vision: doing things the right way

Álvaro Guzmán de Lázaro

Founding partner, CEO and Codirector of Investments
“Above all, learn from your mistakes and those of other people”
Biografia

Álvaro Guzmán de Lázaro

Álvaro Guzmán de Lázaro is CEO, Co-CIO and Founding Partner at Azvalor Asset Management. Prior to founding Azvalor, Álvaro was a portfolio manager at Bestinver Asset Management for 12 years.

He began his career in 1994 in the auditing division of Arthur Andersen (Madrid), later joining Bankers Trust in Paris. Álvaro began working as a stock market analyst in 1997 at the fund management company Value Management (Frankfurt), which was founded by a former colleague of the renowned Peter Lynch. During this period, he studied in depth and applied the teachings of the founding fathers of the value school: Ben Graham, Philip Fisher, Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, etc. After this experience, he began to manage family portfolios and returned to Spain, working as an analyst at Beta Capital. There, Álvaro specialised in the oil and gas industry, and  also studied and visited almost every Spanish listed company.

In 2001, he joined the research department at Banesto Bolsa, taking a large part of his team with him. There, Álvaro performed a similar role to his remit at Beta Capital (as analyst and head of other analysts), conducting in-depth research on foreign listed companies following the strict requirements of the value school of thought. He joined Bestinver in March 2003, being part of the portfolio management team until leaving the firm in January 2015. Álvaro holds a degree in European Business Science, a law diploma from UNED and is a CFA charterholder. He speaks French, English and German. Since 1999, he has been a professor on fundamental analysis at the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts (IEAF) and at IEB.

Fernando Bernad

Founding partner and Codirector of Investments
“In fund management, you must be independent, patient and true to your beliefs”
Biografia

Fernando Bernad

Fernando Bernad is Co-CIO and Founding Partner at Azvalor Asset Management.

He holds a degree in European Business (summa cum laude, jointly from ICADE, Madrid, and Northeastern University, Boston) and is a CFA charterholder.

He began his professional career as an investment analyst in 1998, spending two years at Frankfurt Value Management & Research. Fernando returned to Spain in 2000 and joined the private equity sector as an associate with BNP Paribas’ Leveraged Finance team. He then joined the research team at Banesto as an analyst on the cyclical sector (steel, oil), and later moved to lead the research team at Interdin, where his strategy focused on generating investment ideas based on value principles.

In 2005, he joined Vetusta Group as CIO, and in the two years at the helm of Vetusta, he achieved for his equity investors an annualized return of around 30%. Fernando joined the portfolio management team at Bestinver in February 2007, where he worked until December 2014.

Beltrán Parages

Founding partner and Head of Investor Relations
“Passionate about ‘value investing’ and relationships that are based on trust”
Biografia

Beltrán Parages

Beltrán Parages is Director of Sales and Investor Relations and a Founding Partner of Azvalor Asset Management.

He holds a Business Studies degree from Madrid’s Universidad Complutense.

His professional career began at Beta Capital SVB, which he joined in 1997 to work on the Fixed Income distribution desk. In June 2000, following a sabbatical spent working at St Mary’s Rehabilitation Center in Malawi, he returned to the Beta Capital group, joining Gesbeta SGICC SA as Fixed Income and Variable Income investment analyst in the Automotive and Highways sector. In December 2000, Beltrán joined Allfunds Bank SA, where he performed various domestic and international business development roles over nine years with the company, reaching the position of Regional Director and heading the Allfunds Bank SA business in Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom and Latin America.

He joined the fund manager Bestinver SGIIC SA in May 2009, leading the Business Development and Investor Relations team until October 2014. Beltrán has been a partner and board member of GBAM Limited (Group of Boutique Asset Management) since July 2014.

Sergio Fernández-Pacheco

Founding partner and Head of Finance & Operations
“My mission is to drive efficiency in operations and processes, generating more value for our co-investors”
Biografia

Sergio Fernández-Pacheco

Sergio Fernández-Pacheco is Director of Finance and Operations and a Founding Partner of Azvalor Asset Management.

He holds a dual degree in Business Administration and Management [ADE] and Law from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICADE E-3).

His career began in 1994 when he joined the Financial Services department at Accenture, leading technology and systems re-engineering projects for various banking organisations. In 1997, Sergio joined BBVA, where he has held various leadership positions in Corporate Expansion, Private Banking, Investment Banking. Most recently, he served as managing director of Asset Management, coordinating strategic plans in various regions, digital initiatives and proposals for the bank’s own products as well as those of third-party managers.

Over his career at Grupo BBVA, he has served as president of Europea de Titulizacion S.G.F.T, S.A. and as a board member of Garanti Asset Management (Turkey), BBVA Switzerland, and other group companies. He set up Azvalor Asset Management in 2015.

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