Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A.

What it is

Grupo Aval is Colombia’s largest financial conglomerate, controlling four commercial banks — Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular, and Banco AV Villas — as well as Porvenir, the country’s largest private pension fund manager, and Corficolombiana, its merchant banking arm. It was founded by Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo on January 7, 1994, and is headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia.

The group serves more than 14 million banking customers and over 16 million pension and severance-fund members in Colombia, with a network of more than 60,900 service points across the country, including over 1,100 branches and more than 3,100 ATMs.

Who owns it

Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo is the controlling shareholder and beneficial owner of 81.2% of all outstanding shares, a control position registered with the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá since February 2003. As of December 31, 2024, he retained 97.8% of voting rights through his beneficial ownership of 97.8% of outstanding common shares, while holding 45.5% of outstanding preferred shares on a beneficial basis.

In 2024 the shareholder base comprised more than 71,000 shareholders in total. The roughly 19% public float trades on the BVC and, in the form of American Depositary Shares, on the NYSE.

Who runs it

In March 2024 Luis Carlos Sarmiento Gutiérrez resigned as President of the company, and the new board immediately appointed him as Chairman of the Board — replacing his retiring father. María Lorena Gutiérrez Botero was named President (CEO) of Grupo Aval in March 2024, formally assuming the role on April 1, 2024.

She is the first woman to lead Grupo Aval, an institution that for decades was headed by its billionaire founder. Diego Fernando Solano Saravia serves as Chief Financial Officer.

The money, in plain words

In the full year to December 31, 2024, revenue reached COP 11.74 trillion (~US$3.42 billion), essentially flat year on year (+0.20%), while net profit attributable to shareholders jumped 37% to COP 1.02 trillion (~US$297 million). That means the group kept about 8.7 cents of profit for every peso of income — a net profit margin of 8.65% (our calculation), reasonable for a diversified financial group navigating a high-interest-rate environment.

The group’s loan book grew 7.3% and deposits rose 10.4% versus the prior year, the bread-and-butter measures of a bank’s health. The dividend yield stood at approximately 5.4% in 2024 — a meaningful cash return for income-focused holders.

What it is doing now

Through the first nine months of 2025, year-to-date net income hit COP 1.4 trillion (~US$407 million, our calculation), 88% higher than the same period of 2024. Grupo Aval also launched Go Payment, an instant-payment system that processed more than 10 million transactions totalling COP 2 trillion in its first month.

In December 2024 the group merged its trust subsidiary Aval Fiduciaria into the broader structure, and in January 2025 it incorporated Aval Banca de Inversión SAS, a new entity focused on financial structuring and advisory services. These moves tighten the group’s internal architecture as the new management team reshapes its operating model.

What to watch

• Succession execution. The April 2024 leadership change — when founder Sarmiento Angulo left the chairmanship — began a new governance chapter for Grupo Aval led by his son and, now, a professional outside CEO. How the family-owned conglomerate balances continuity with reform is the central question for the next few years.
• Colombia’s political cycle. Management itself flagged that 2026 will be challenging, with presidential-election uncertainty expected to bring financial-market volatility and delayed investment decisions.
• Return on equity recovery. CFO Diego Solano guided a return on equity of 10–11% for the current cycle — a range depressed by slower central-bank rate cuts squeezing the margin on consumer loans. Investors will watch whether falling rates allow that to widen again.
• Go Payment and digital build-out. The rapid uptake of the new instant-payment rails is a test of whether Grupo Aval can defend market share against fintech entrants without sacrificing the high-margin lending book that funds its dividend.

This is news, not investment advice.