OUR APPROACH
An edge built on research, patience, and smaller companies.
We believe fundamental research earns its highest return when applied to smaller, less-followed companies over a long horizon. That conviction shapes everything we do: concentrated portfolios, our own research, and the patience to let it work.
AT A GLANCE
The strategy in six lines.
01
Concentrated portfolios of 15 to 25 companies
02
A three to five year time horizon
03
A focus on small and mid-sized companies
04
We invest only where we can build a differentiated view
05
Our own research, grounded in fundamental business drivers
06
Aiming to outperform the market over the long term
Why smaller companies, and why deeper research.
WHY IT WORKS
Smaller, less-followed companies are under-covered, so diligent work can still uncover what the market has missed, both in the information we gather and in how we interpret it. They also swing more on news and noise, because fewer institutional investors are weighing the fundamentals or taking a long view. That can hand a patient, rational investor an advantage precisely when others overreact.
WHAT WE LOOK FOR
Quality businesses, run by the right people.
QUALITY BUSINESS MODELS
A durable advantage
We look for competitive advantages that hold or widen over time, whether from scale, network effects, high switching costs, cornered resources, or process power. Our work is to find the underappreciated strengths that can drive above-average returns.
STRONG MANAGEMENT
The people running the business
We place heavy weight on management, looking for disciplined capital allocation, strong execution, and genuine long-term thinking. Over the past decade we have met with hundreds of management teams, turning over a great many rocks to find a few gems.
HOW WE WORK
From idea to position.
A consistent process, applied to every name we consider.
We source ideas from a deep network of analysts, investors, and industry contacts, and from the companies connected to those we already own.
01
Find
We map the whole business model and the source, durability, and trajectory of its competitive advantage.
02
Understand
We test our thinking in the real world: site visits, calls with industry experts, competitor analysis, and stress-testing the assumptions.
03
Validate
We set a valuation range, weigh the gap between price and worth, and look for asymmetric payoffs, with scenarios and probabilities across the range of outcomes.
04
Select
We build a portfolio of 15 to 25 companies, sizing each position by its risk and reward and the strength of the business, most in the 3 to 5% range.
05
Construct
We treat risk as the permanent loss of capital, and manage it through deep knowledge, premortems, diversification, position limits, and humility.
06
Manage risk
A note on volatility. We do not equate volatility with risk. In less efficient markets it is often where our best opportunities come from, not something to fear.
ALIGNMENT
Our interests sit with yours.
INVESTED TOGETHER
We own the same companies as our clients. We are in this together, and that shapes every decision.
We eat our own cooking
NO HIDDEN FEES
No commissioned products and no hidden charges. Our incentive is simply to perform for you.
Squarely aligned
INDEPENDENT
As a founder-led boutique, our advice carries no outside pressure and no product shelf to push.
Answerable only to clients
GO DEEPER
The full process, and a conversation.
If you would like the complete detail, our investment process is set out in full in a short document. And if the approach resonates, I would be glad to talk.