Welcome to The Hermit đ§ââď¸
Core Mission
The Hermit is the official logbook of Hermit Ventures Ltd. Weâre an active operating firm focused on extraordinary companies with market caps under $2bn.
We love building up and scaling companies. Whether we're buying a private company outright or taking a 1-5% minority stake in a listed one, we partner with teams to scale them to the next level.
We use primary research, scuttlebutt, and forensic analysis to find businesses that are heavily mispriced despite being exceptionally well-managed.
Why Small Caps?
We call it permanent alpha by design.
Structural Asymmetry: Big banks cannot deploy capital into these companies due to size constraints. That means no analyst coverage, no efficiency, and massive opportunity.
Access: Management answers our calls. We visit factories. We verify the data ourselves.
The One-Foot Hurdle: We donât look for complex puzzles. We look for obvious, mispriced monopolies that are simply too small for Index Funds to care.
We aim to get as close to pure certainty as possible. Once we gather the information, we allocate meaningful capital (~10%) to each position.
What We Deliver
1. The Institutional Deep Dive. A 30+ page thesis based on primary data. We cover the business model, the moat, the catalysts, the risks, and the valuation. This is our ownerâs manual.
2. Priority Briefings. Investing is dynamic, so our research is too. We regularly speak with the management teams. These are highlights from these conversations with direct, actionable updates on how the business is evolving.
3. The Hermit Portfolio (Audited). We allocate. You get detailed updates on exactly what we are buying and selling.
Note: Unlike 99% of financial newsletters, our returns are audited.
4. Our Pick of the Week (Saturdays). A concise, high-conviction snapshot of a fresh company in our crosshairs. We focus on undervalued assets, ignored backlogs, or margin expansion stories.
5. Our Investing Journey. Essays on cognitive biases, the psychology of money, boots on the ground research, and the reality of running a fund.
About The Author
Iâm Alejandro Yela, Director of Hermit Ventures and Principal Advisor of Equity Focus FIL.
My professional background spans restructuring, project finance, and M&A, which means I spent years running intense Excel marathons.
But unlike many of my investment peers, Iâve also operated businesses and held seats as a board member and observer. Living life in the operatorâs seat gives me a real edge when discussing day-to-day corporate challenges⌠because Iâve actually been in their shoes.
I hold a dual degree in Economics & Law from UNAV/IESE and two Masterâs degrees (Management & Finance) from IE Business School, alongside CFA, CAIA, and European (MiFID II) Financial Advisor credentials.
I donât rely on complex modeling to value a business. If the value isnât obvious on the back of a napkin, we pass.
We look for certainty, we bet big, and we wait.
