Grupo Bolívar S.A.

What it is

Grupo Bolívar is a Colombia-based holding company whose subsidiaries span commercial banking, insurance, and real estate development. Its principal operating arms include Banco Davivienda, Leasing Bolívar, Seguros Bolívar, Seguros Comerciales Bolívar, and CB Bolívar Inmobiliaria, among others.

The group is Colombia’s third-largest banking conglomerate. With more than 80 years of history, it has grown into one of the most solid and diversified corporate groups in the country.

Who owns it

In December 1939, brothers José María and Enrique Cortés founded the Compañía de Seguros Bolívar S.A., the seed of what would eventually become the group. As of end-2023, the group reported a book value (patrimonio) of COP 19.1 trillion (US$5.5 bn), of which COP 12.7 trillion (US$3.7 bn) corresponds to the controlling shareholders — principally the Cortés family.

Major stakeholders as of Q3 2025 include Sociedades Bolívar S.A. — the Cortés family vehicle — as majority controller, with Colombian pension funds holding roughly 22% collectively. Voting power is concentrated in the family through Sociedades Bolívar S.A., while subsidiaries use preferred shares to raise capital without diluting central voting control.

Who runs it

Miguel Cortés Kotal, son of founder-era patriarch José Alejandro Cortés, assumed the presidency of the group in 2011. José Alejandro Cortés himself, though retired from the day-to-day role since 2011, remains at the head of the board of directors.

Javier Suárez serves as president of Banco Davivienda, the group’s flagship banking subsidiary. The auditor for the group’s financial statements is KPMG S.A.S.

The money, in plain words

Davivienda, Grupo Bolívar’s main earnings engine, posted a net profit of COP 853 billion (~USD 247 million) for the full year 2024, a significant recovery driven by lower funding costs and stronger income from its currency and derivatives strategy. The bank’s domestic loan book closed the year at COP 106 trillion (US$30.7 bn), growing 2.8% annually, with commercial and mortgage lending leading the way.

At the Grupo Bolívar consolidated level, attributable profit for the first nine months of 2024 was COP 300.3 billion (~USD 87 million), up COP 214.6 billion (US$62 mn) versus the same period a year earlier — a strong turnaround from 2023’s depressed base. The stock trades at roughly 11.7 times trailing earnings (our calculation: COP 79,820 (US$23)share price ÷ COP 6,849 (US$2)EPS), and pays a monthly dividend yielding 3.77% — steady income unusual in the region.

What it is doing now

In December 2025, Davivienda and Scotiabank closed a landmark deal: Scotiabank transferred its banking operations in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama to Davivienda, creating a new combined holding called Davivienda Group. In exchange, Scotiabank received an approximately 20% ownership stake in the combined entity.

The merged Davivienda Group now serves more than 29 million clients and manages assets above USD 60 billion, representing an expansion of roughly 37%. On the digital side, Daviplata — Davivienda’s mobile wallet — had already reached 18.5 million users by end-2024, of whom 4.5 million use it as their only financial product.

What to watch

• Integration execution. Absorbing Scotiabank’s three-country operations is the biggest operational challenge in the group’s history; costs, brand migration, and staff retention will test management in 2026.
• Scotiabank’s 20% stake. Scotiabank’s investment in Davivienda Group is recorded as an investment in associate — it gains a board seat and a share of future profits, while Davivienda gains a global name on its roster.
• Colombia macro. The group’s Otro Resultado Integral (the accounting line that captures unrealised gains and losses) was hit by currency moves, as the Colombian peso’s representative market rate fell significantly against the dollar in the first half of 2025. A weaker peso keeps compressing Central American earnings when translated back to COP.
• Family succession and governance. The Cortés family is now in its third generation of leadership; how ownership evolves and whether the public float grows will shape the stock’s long-term liquidity and pricing.

This is news, not investment advice.