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Architectural passage representing long-term investment discipline

Value Investment Managers

I work with exceptional value investment managers whose quality of thinking and discipline have earned my confidence over many years.

My aim is to remain invested for the long term and to be a reliable capital partner.

The Selection

From the Universe to the Portfolio

Out of the worldwide universe of value investment managers, only a few remain once the basic requirements are applied: a comprehensible process, disciplined capital allocation, integrity and independence. Those few I examine in depth against five criteria. What remains is a portfolio of a few, deliberately combined managers. Because discipline often shows itself more clearly in deliberately not investing.

Selection funnel: from the universe of value managers to the portfolio
Schematic illustration of the selection process. The vast majority of managers fail at the filter. That is precisely its purpose.

How one manager emerges from many

From the first lead to ongoing monitoring, the process usually takes months, often years.

  1. Sourcing

    A little-known manager becomes visible through the network. A first analysis of their process from a distance.

  2. Getting to know

    Conversations over months: How do they think? Do they hold their discipline in a crisis?

  3. Five criteria

    In-depth review against the selection criteria described below.

  4. Deciding

    Do they fill a role the portfolio genuinely needs? If not: a deliberate no.

  5. Monitoring

    Ongoing monitoring across cycles. Style drift prompts a conversation and, if necessary, a replacement.

The vast majority fail at the filter. That is precisely the point of the filter.

Stage 3 in detail

Five criteria

A clearly defined investment process, disciplined capital allocation and the integrity and independence of the people involved are the precondition for any conversation. Those who clear that hurdle are measured against five criteria.

  1. Valuation discipline across market cycles

    Demonstrated discipline over many years and market cycles. What counts is not the explanation but holding firm in a crisis; a change of style can be a knock-out criterion.

  2. Structural independence

    The freedom not to invest, to hold cash and to take unpopular positions, without benchmark or distribution pressure.

  3. Skin in the game

    Substantial personal wealth of the manager invested in their own fund. This changes risk decisions in a fundamental way.

  4. Behaviour in market corrections

    A lower maximum drawdown or a faster recovery than a broad market index of the same investment universe, measured by the decline from the previous peak and by the time taken to regain it, across past market downturns. Lived, not claimed. For focused AIFs I accept higher volatility where asymmetric opportunities justify it.

  5. Congruence with the portfolio architecture

    An excellent manager is not enough. They must fill a role that the overall portfolio actually needs.

After the selection

I manage risk on four levels

The first risk filter is the entry price: a sufficient margin of safety limits risk before day one. Four levels build on it, from the inside out.

Risk management on four levels around a core
Schematic illustration. Managing risk does not mean avoiding fluctuations, but limiting and understanding them.
  • Core

    Entry price and margin of safety: the risk filter that applies before any investment.

  • Level 1

    Companies: business quality and earnings stability of the underlying holdings.

  • Level 2

    Managers: consistency, discipline and integrity across market cycles.

  • Level 3

    Portfolio: the interplay of the value categories, which carry at different times.

  • Level 4

    Liquidity and market structure: target funds are managed by liquidity class, from daily tradable to illiquid, with realisability monitored on an ongoing basis.

Wilhelminen Investment Office · Videre ante alios

What matters is not size or prominence, but quality of thought, process discipline and integrity.

Architectural columns suggesting structure and discipline

Many of the selected managers operate independently and outside common distribution structures. Access to their expertise is often limited and develops over time, through trusted relationships.

Unconventionality is not a disadvantage, but rather is often a positive sign of independent thinking. In exceptional cases a short track record can suffice, provided that process and research are convincing. A long track record must demonstrate substance.

Managers who never underperform will rarely outperform over the long term.

Anyone who is not prepared to act against the consensus will rarely achieve more than the average. It is precisely such independent, high-conviction managers that I look for.

Who this fund is for

The Wilhelminen Value Fonds is an open-ended retail alternative investment fund (retail AIF) and is open to private and professional investors alike. It is intended for investors who think in the long term, in years rather than months; who understand and share the value approach; who can tolerate fluctuations in value along the way; and who seek absolute performance rather than proximity to a benchmark.

It is not intended for investors who may need to draw on the capital at short notice, who expect quick gains, who orient themselves towards quarters and benchmarks, or who are looking for a guaranteed product. Anyone unable to bear fluctuations is deliberately not the right fit here. And I say so up front.

The value of an investment can rise as well as fall. A loss of the capital invested, up to and including total loss, is possible.

This description is intended as orientation, not as investment advice. Only the prospectus, the fund rules and the key information document are authoritative. For further depth: the Investor Handbook for the Wilhelminen Value Fonds, available on request.

To the fund page
Families and professional investors

Families and professional investors

Long-term investment horizon

Long-term investment horizon

Willingness to tolerate short-term fluctuations in value

Willingness to tolerate short-term fluctuations in value

An understanding of the value approach

An understanding of the value approach

Implemented via the Wilhelminen Value Fund

Implemented via the Wilhelminen Value Fund

Families and professional investors

Families and professional investors

Long-term investment horizon

Long-term investment horizon

Willingness to tolerate short-term fluctuations in value

Willingness to tolerate short-term fluctuations in value

An understanding of the value approach

An understanding of the value approach

Implemented via the Wilhelminen Value Fund

Implemented via the Wilhelminen Value Fund