08/25: Buying Cheap Ahead of Rate Cuts
Portfolio Update. The 10 New Extraordinary Companies We Own
Want more context? Track the journey so far here.
Index
Briefing
Welcome to our fifteenth edition. This one’s a bit crazy as we managed to get into a lot of positions at fairly cheap prices. We still have a few orders waiting to be executed, but over the past month we invested around 60% of our AUM.
We’re also expecting additional capital inflows, which means the percentage of AUM invested will look smaller in a few months. That doesn’t make our current positions any less relevant… especially the four core companies that now make up the bulk of the portfolio. In their case, the thesis and the price lined up beautifully throughout August, giving us the conviction to size them properly.
In this edition, we’ll circle back to a company we talked about over a month ago: Aeroedge. We’ll also walk you through our process for sizing and portfolio construction, laying out the framework we’ve been using. On top of that, we’ll reflect on the mistakes we’ve made and explore how to turn “mistakes of omission” into learning opportunities.
And as always, you’ll get a detailed update: company by company, order by order, including sizing and pricing, together with our thoughts on each position and a brief thesis on all the new names that joined the portfolio.
We hope you enjoy this one! 😉
Please note that this update accurately reflects the portfolio changes within Equity Focus FIL, our regulated European hedge fund.
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✈️ Aeroedge
As you know, we pride ourselves on finding outstanding companies with short-term catalysts and resilient business models. Last month, we shared one position we exited (District Metals) and introduced a new idea: Japanese aerospace parts manufacturer AeroEdge.
In case you haven’t read our commentary on the company, pls check this:
By the time we mentioned it, we’d already been studying the company for a few months, but that’s beside the point. What matters is that we placed a few orders.
We set some orders starting at ¥2,800. Needless to say, none were filled. 😔
That’s how microcaps work: nothing happens until, suddenly, everything does.
It’s frustrating, given the dozens of hours of research invested, but the work is done and tucked away. You never know… these stocks can fall as quickly as they rise, though in practice, once information is priced in, it tends to stay that way.
📊 Portfolio Overview
Cumulative Performance Summary
Equity Focus* [A Shares] ➤ -11.25%
Equity Focus* [Y Shares] ➤ -10.53%
All-Weather Portfolio** ➤ +2.27%
* Equity Focus FIL was approved in April 2025 and started operating in June 2025. Figures are net of fees.
** The All-Weather Portfolio, introduced in July 2025, serves as a benchmark reference.
Equity Focus FIL
Updated on August 31st, 2025