Key Takeaways
- • The 2025 Value Investing Seminar convened July 3–4 in its 21st year of operation, bringing together institutional fund managers to present investment theses and competitive advantage frameworks rooted in classical value investing principles from Keynes, Graham, Buffett, Fisher, Singleton, and Munger.
- • The seminar format allocates 20 minutes per speaker to present favorite investment ideas, discuss opportunity identification, share lessons from past mistakes, recommend influential books, and engage in audience Q&A.
- • Christoph Hilfiker, Senior Fund Manager at LLB Asset Management AG, presented a moat-based value investing philosophy centered on identifying companies with durable competitive advantages, articulating seven distinct moat types including strong brands, proprietary technology, and high customer switching costs.
- • The event is hosted by Ciccio Azzollini, Whitney Tilson (founder of Empire Finance Research in New York City), and Il Valore Conta, an Italian independent investment advisory and e-learning platform, and has been operating since its 2004 inception.
- • A comprehensive 135-page report documenting the full 2025 seminar proceedings was published in both standard and interactive PDF formats as of July 7, 2025.
Summary
The 2025 Value Investing Seminar took place July 3–4, establishing itself as a flagship event in the value investing calendar. Now in its 21st consecutive year, the conference attracts institutional-grade fund managers and investment professionals to share portfolio construction methodologies and specific investment opportunities. The seminar is organized by Ciccio Azzollini, Whitney Tilson—founder of New York-based Empire Finance Research—and Il Valore Conta, an Italian independent investment advisory platform. The event has operated continuously since 2004.
The seminar's intellectual foundation draws explicitly from classical value investing literature and practitioners, including foundational work by John Maynard Keynes, Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Philip Fisher, Charlie Munger, and lessons distilled from over 1,000 business leaders and investors who have participated across the event's two-decade history. This lineage signals the conference's commitment to systematic, principle-driven investment analysis rather than market timing or momentum-based strategies.
Each speaker receives a structured 20-minute slot to cover five core elements: articulating where the best investment opportunities currently exist, presenting specific portfolio ideas, reviewing lessons learned from previous investment mistakes, recommending impactful books recently consumed, and engaging directly with audience questions. This format ensures substantive content delivery while maintaining audience engagement.
Christoph Hilfiker, Senior Fund Manager at LLB Asset Management AG, exemplified this approach by detailing a value investing philosophy centered on identifying companies protected by durable competitive advantages, or "moats." Hilfiker outlined seven distinct moat categories—including strong brand equity, proprietary technology, and high customer switching costs—providing a framework for systematic competitive advantage analysis. This moat-based methodology aligns with long-established value investing principles emphasizing the identification of sustainable, defensible business economics.
The seminar's comprehensive documentation was made available to institutional audiences on July 7, 2025, in a complete 135-page report distributed in both standard PDF and interactive flipbook formats, enabling investors to review detailed speaker presentations, specific stock recommendations, and investment theses across the full two-day conference.
The seminar's intellectual foundation draws explicitly from classical value investing literature and practitioners, including foundational work by John Maynard Keynes, Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Philip Fisher, Charlie Munger, and lessons distilled from over 1,000 business leaders and investors who have participated across the event's two-decade history. This lineage signals the conference's commitment to systematic, principle-driven investment analysis rather than market timing or momentum-based strategies.
Each speaker receives a structured 20-minute slot to cover five core elements: articulating where the best investment opportunities currently exist, presenting specific portfolio ideas, reviewing lessons learned from previous investment mistakes, recommending impactful books recently consumed, and engaging directly with audience questions. This format ensures substantive content delivery while maintaining audience engagement.
Christoph Hilfiker, Senior Fund Manager at LLB Asset Management AG, exemplified this approach by detailing a value investing philosophy centered on identifying companies protected by durable competitive advantages, or "moats." Hilfiker outlined seven distinct moat categories—including strong brand equity, proprietary technology, and high customer switching costs—providing a framework for systematic competitive advantage analysis. This moat-based methodology aligns with long-established value investing principles emphasizing the identification of sustainable, defensible business economics.
The seminar's comprehensive documentation was made available to institutional audiences on July 7, 2025, in a complete 135-page report distributed in both standard PDF and interactive flipbook formats, enabling investors to review detailed speaker presentations, specific stock recommendations, and investment theses across the full two-day conference.
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