Investment consultant Aristotle Capital Boston, LLC, released a "small cap equity strategy" for investor letters for the first quarter of 2025. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The volatility observed in 2024 continued until the first quarter of 2025. The Russell 2000 index experienced volatility in the first quarter of 2025, losing -9.48% after strong in 2024. The pace in February and March is longer due to uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and longer rate environments. In the first quarter, the strategy had a net fee return of -7.34% (expenses of -7.20%), outperforming the Russell 2000 total return -9.48%. For more information on the best fund options in 2025, check out its top five.

Aristotle Capital’s small equity strategy highlighted stocks such as Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI) in its first-quarter 2025 investor letter. Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI) is a gold producer, mainly used in the exploration of gold sediments. Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE:AGI) has a one-month return of -17.04%, and its shares account for 43.59% of its value over the past 52 weeks. On May 15, 2025, Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI) closed at $24.54 per share, with a market value of $10.321 billion.

Aristotle Capital Small Equity Strategy pointed out the following about Alamos Gold (NYSE: AGI) in its 2025 Investor Letter in its Q1 Investors’ Letter:

“Alamos Gold Company (New York Stock Exchange: Agi), engaged in the exploration, development, mining and extraction of precious metals. The company benefited from high prices as investors hedges on commodities. We believe that we believe in a stable production growth program from 600,000 ounces to 1 million ounces per year in the company’s lower geopolitical risk profile and a strong operating record over the next five years. ”

Aerial view of gold mines with equipment to mine the earth.

Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI) is not among the 30 most popular stocks in hedge funds. According to our database, at the end of the fourth quarter, 37 hedge fund portfolio held Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI), compared with 30 in the previous quarter. In Q1 2025, Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE: AGI) produced 125,000 ounces of gold, consistent with the low-end guidance. Although we acknowledge the potential of Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE:AGI) as an investment, our belief is that AI stocks have greater hope to offer higher returns and do so in a shorter time frame. If you are looking for AI stocks that are as promising as NVIDIA, but whose earnings are trading at less than 5 times the price, check out our report on undervalued AI stocks.