"Where to find hidden gems with long-term growth and value in the world"

AVI Global Trust's CEO and chief investment officer, Joe Bauernfreund, identifies three companies in which he would invest

As AVI Global Trust's manager, Asset Value Investors is commemorating 40 years this summer. We have continued to use the same unique bottom-up strategy for global equities over this time, concentrating on understudied, under-considered, and mispriced segments of the market. Our goal is to purchase enduring, expanding companies that are trading at a discount and have some kind of catalyst or event that will unlock and increase value.

Three long-lasting companies to increase value.

This is exemplified by Vivendi (Paris: VIV), a French holding company under Vincent Bollor's control that trades at a 39 percent discount to our estimated net asset value (NAV). The venerable, expansive media conglomerate was divided into four independently traded companies in late 2024: Vivendi, Havas, Louis Hachette, and Canal+. A 10 percent listed stake in Universal Music Group (UMG), which represents 144 percent of Vivendi's market value and more than 90 percent of NAV, is still held by the last piece.

The French regulator decided in July 2025 that Bollor had effective control over Vivendi after the split process and was therefore required to make a mandatory offer at a "fair price" within six months. Even though the Vivendis discount has decreased from nearly 50% to the mid-30s, we still anticipate significant benefits from additional discount reduction. Furthermore, according to UMG, the market is underestimating the growth and durability of its earnings, which supports the interesting prospects for NAV growth.

A seventh-generation holding company that trades at a 43 percent discount to our estimated NAV, DIeteren (Brussels: DIE), is another business we like. In September 2022, we wrote up the stock for BFIA. The share price at the time was 140. In the interim, the company paid a dividend of 74 per share, resulting in a total return of 87 percent. Today, the shares are trading at 188.

We continue to have high hopes for potential future returns in spite of this impressive performance. The main asset, which makes up 66% of NAV, is a 50% unlisted interest in Belron, the world leader in auto glass replacement, repair, and recalibration; readers in the UK may be more familiar with this company as Autoglass. A significant structural-growth and margin tailwind is anticipated in the upcoming years due to trends toward windshield complexity and the recalibration of ADAS cameras. DIeteren shares continue to underrepresent this value. A listing on the stock exchange by Belron could be a catalyst to alter this.

The holding company of the Keswick family, Jardine Matheson (Singapore: J36), is a third example; it trades at a 31 percent discount to NAV. Despite a distinguished past, the last ten to fifteen years have seen poor returns for shareholders. As it transforms into a contemporary holding company with an increased emphasis on governance, capital allocation, and engaged ownership, the company is going through a phase of change and evolution under the fifth taipan, Ben Keswick.

This has the potential to extract value from a NAV that has underperformed and is similar to what the best-in-class European family-controlled holding companies did two decades ago. Following recent adjustments to the management of compensation packages, these adjustments open the door to possibly better NAV and discount returns with a clear alignment of interest with the family.