AVAL vs BCH: How Grupo Aval and Banco de Chile Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: AVAL is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AVAL and BCH share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AVAL and BCH exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Grupo Aval is a Colombian financial holding company that controls four commercial banks (Banco de Bogota, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular and Banco AV Villas) alongside the pension manager Porvenir, the merchant bank Corficolombiana and a set of trust, brokerage and investment banking units. Together those subsidiaries make it the largest banking group in Colombia by loans and deposits, with a gross loan book of roughly COP 193.6 trillion and deposits of roughly COP 216.8 trillion as of the first quarter of 2026. The reporting currency is the Colombian peso, so every operating number is a peso number, while the ADR itself is quoted in US dollars on the NYSE. That gap matters more than it sounds: a good peso year can still be a flat dollar year for the ADR if the currency moves against holders.

Full AVAL guide

Banco de Chile (NYSE: BCH) is one of Chile's largest banks, founded in 1893 and operating roughly 400 branches with about 14,000 employees. It is a full-service commercial bank spanning large corporations, small and medium enterprises, consumer finance, personal banking, international banking, and capital markets, and it has historically ranked at or near the top of the Chilean industry by net income, with a net-income market share around 26% in recent years. The bank is controlled by LQ Inversiones Financieras, a joint venture between Chile's Quiñenco holding group and Citigroup, which gives it a stable, concentrated ownership structure.

Full BCH guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AVAL drivers: Deposit gathering is outpacing lending; The equity tax is a one-time distortion, not a run rate.
• BCH drivers: High return on equity and profitability; Dividend income.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Country risk dominates: Colombian fiscal deterioration, sovereign rating actions, tax changes like the 2026 equity levy, and the political cycle all land directly on this stock, often faster than any operating result. For BCH, bCH is a single-country emerging-market bank, so results are exposed to the Chilean economy, interest-rate cycle, and inflation, all of which move net interest margins and loan demand.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AVAL if you believe its drivers more; BCH if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AVAL and BCH guides.

AVAL. All operating figures are reported in Colombian pesos (shown in filings as Ps), while the ADR trades in US dollars near $4.80 for a market capitalization around $5.8 billion. The sub-book valuation is the whole argument in one number: the market is applying a Colombia discount rather than pricing a broken bank, since the ex-tax return on equity near 12% is respectable for an emerging-market lender. Dividends are declared in pesos and paid monthly in Colombia, so the dollar amount a US holder receives moves with the exchange rate.

BCH. BCH trades at roughly 15 to 16 times trailing earnings and about 3 times tangible book value, a premium that reflects its high ROE and market leadership. The mid-5s percent forward dividend yield is a large part of the total-return case. Recent quarters have been softer, with first-quarter 2026 net income down about 18% year on year on lower inflation-linked margin and higher provisions.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): AVAL shows gross loans ~COP 193.6 trillion, up ~6% year over year (1Q 2026), total deposits ~COP 216.8 trillion, up ~11.7% year over year (1Q 2026), attributable net income ~COP 336.6 billion in 1Q 2026, down ~6.9% year over year, return on average equity ~7.4% reported in 1Q 2026, ~12.0% excluding the one-time equity tax; BCH shows market cap ~$19.5B, revenue (ttm) ~$3.1B, net income (ttm) ~$1.2B, p/e (ttm) ~15.6x.

AVAL and BCH are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AVAL and BCH exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.