Soumya Eswaran
3 min read
In This Article:
River Road Asset Management, an investment management company, released its “River Road Small Cap Value Fund” Q1 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, AMG River Road Small Cap Value Fund (Class N) returned -3.94% compared to -7.74% returns for the Russell 2000 Value Index. The fund returned 1.30% for the one year ended March 31, 2025, compared to the index return of -3.12%. Stocks declined in the first quarter due to diminishing growth expectations and uncertainty surrounding trade policies, which crumbled the post-election increase in business, consumer, and investor confidence. The remaining gains were subsequently erased following “Liberation Day.” For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2025, please check its top five holdings.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, River Road Small Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks such as AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS). AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) is an insurance provider that offers various specialty insurance and reinsurance products. The one-month return of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) was -2.01%, and its shares have appreciated by 41.12% over the past 52 weeks. On June 25, 2025, AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) closed at $100.49 per share, with a market capitalization of $7.904 billion.
River Road Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
"The holding with the highest contribution to active return in the portfolio during Q1 was specialty insurer AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS). AXS delivered record operating earnings in 2024 driven by increased investment income from higher yields, improved underwriting, and general and administrative (G&A) cost reductions, which lifted book value per share 20.7% year over year."
A businessperson in a high-rise office building, demonstrating the protection of professional lines.
AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 34 hedge fund portfolios held AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) at the end of the first quarter, which was 38 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE:AXS) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
