Riverwater Partners, an investment management company, released its “Sustainable Value Strategy” Q1 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In Q1 2026, the Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy underperformed the Russell 2500 Value Index. The underperformance was driven entirely by stock selection, while sector allocation contributed positively. The quarter demonstrated a strong small-cap market with an 11.1% return until February, but later the strategy lagged by over 5%, following geopolitical events. Despite this, relative performance improved, indicating strong downside protection. Looking ahead, the firm anticipates a shift back to fundamentals expected to favor high-quality small-cap stocks over lower-quality peers and large-cap equities. In addition, please check the Strategy’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy mentioned stocks like Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ). Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) is a leading financial advisory and asset management firm headquartered in New York, New York. On April 21, 2026, Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) closed at $48.72 per share. One-month return of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) was 19.12%, and its shares gained 28.45% over the past 52 weeks. Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion.
Riverwater Sustainable Value Strategy stated the following regarding Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“We closed our position in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ). With the M&A cycle showing potential signs of slowing and two record-breaking IPOs stealing share, we felt the stock was pricing in a more optimistic capital markets environment than we were prepared to underwrite.”
Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 28 hedge fund portfolios held Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 23 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) and shared the list of most undervalued financial stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
