| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| - | - | - |
Benedikt Baumann's Primary Research Fund returned 1.2% since inception in December 2025, focusing on super-durable businesses with sustainable competitive advantages. The fund added SOL Group, a dual-engine Italian industrial compounder combining Europe's leading industrial gas franchise serving 50k customers across 32 countries with Vivisol, the largest home respiratory care provider serving 750k patients. SOL's industrial gas business creates regional oligopolies through expensive logistics and infrastructure that took nearly a century to build, while Vivisol benefits from Europe's aging population and healthcare systems shifting chronic care from hospitals to homes. The manager emphasizes businesses designed to last like Roman aqueducts, particularly those unlikely to be negatively affected by AI over decades. Key risks include AI disruption to software businesses, cyclical industrial gas volumes, and healthcare reimbursement pressure. The strategy prioritizes quality, duration, and conviction over traditional valuation multiples, seeking businesses that can compound for 10+ years where business quality dominates entry valuation concerns.
The Primary Research Fund invests in a dozen super-durable, quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, excellent management, and reasonable valuations, focusing on companies designed to last like Roman aqueducts that can compound for decades without being negatively affected by technological disruption like AI.
The manager remains confident in the durability of the fund's carefully selected businesses, emphasizing long-term compounding with a focus north. He commits to continued primary research, asking inconvenient questions, and allocating capital behind businesses built to last.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13 2026 | 2025 Q4 | AHT.L, AI.PA, LIN, SOL.MI, WIT.MI | AI, Europe, healthcare, Home Health, Industrial Gases, infrastructure, Quality | - | Baumann's Primary Research Fund added SOL Group, combining Europe's leading industrial gas franchise with the largest home respiratory care provider. The dual-engine model benefits from aging demographics and healthcare system shifts while creating regional oligopolies through century-built infrastructure. The manager prioritizes AI-resistant, durable businesses that can compound for decades over traditional valuation metrics. |
| Dec 15 2025 | 2025 Q3 | 005930.KS, 4188.T, 5401.T, 6701.T, 6723.T, 6758.T, 6967.T, AAPL, AI.PA, BOSCH, DRW3.DE, HLMA.L, HON, IFX.DE, KO, MSA, MU, NVDA, TSM | concentrated, Gas Detection, Japan, Primary Research, Quality, Safety, semiconductors | - | Primary Research Fund launches with concentrated strategy targeting high-quality businesses through primary research. Lead position in Riken Keiki, Japan's dominant gas detection manufacturer benefiting from semiconductor fab expansion and recurring maintenance revenue. Conservative sizing reflects new geography and management assessment, with investment requiring continuous execution to maintain portfolio allocation. |
| Aug 20 2025 | 2025 Q2 | WIIT.MI | Cloud, Data centers, Europe, Germany, infrastructure, private equity, technology | WIIT.MI | Baumann initiated WIIT, Europe's only sovereign cloud provider, capitalizing on EU data sovereignty concerns as Microsoft admits inability to protect EU data from US access. Twenty Tier IV data centers serve mission-critical workloads with 40% EBITDA margins, five-year contracts, and high switching costs. Significant growth runway with only 38% SME cloud adoption and favorable regulatory tailwinds supporting European consolidation. |
| Jun 2 2025 | 2025 Q1 | AHT.L, AZE.BR, BNR.DE, DPLM.L, FIX, GET.PA, GOOGL, IMCD.AS, POOL, RWH.L, UNVR, URI, WSO | AI, Distribution, durability, Europe, Specialty Chemicals | AZE.BR | Baumann added Azelis, a specialty chemicals distributor, as his key new holding after extensive European trade show research. The business operates 70 labs serving 59,000 customers with sticky formulation services and recurring revenue. Growing outsourcing trends and customer willingness to accept price increases support mid-teens compounding expectations, purchased at a discount to peer IMCD. |
| Jan 17 2025 | 2024 Q4 | AHT.L, AMZN, ATLN.L, BOKA.AS, DEME.BR, FGR.PA, FTI.PA, SAPM.MI, SUBC.PA, URI | Concentration, energy, Equipment Rental, Offshore, Primary Research, Quality, value | - | Primary Research Fund maintains concentrated exposure to quality businesses discovered through extensive fieldwork. Largest position Ashtead Technology provides subsea equipment rental for offshore energy, benefiting from structural shift to rental models and offshore wind growth. Despite recent performance headwinds, attractive valuation and strong competitive position support continued conviction in this fragmented, growing market. |
| Oct 15 2024 | 2024 Q3 | MSFT, SWON.SW | Concentration, Europe, infrastructure, IT Services, Quality, value | RNWH.L | Concentrated European value fund targeting 8-12 quality businesses with >15% ROIC and >7% FCF yields. Deep primary research approach through industry conferences and customer interviews. Current focus on UK infrastructure maintenance and IT services. Two holdings taken private by PE, validating research. Launching January 2025 with patient capital and business ownership mentality. |
| Jun 29 2024 | 2024 Q2 | AT.L | Concentration, Europe, free cash flow, long-term, Quality, ROIC, value | AT.L | New concentrated value fund targeting 15-20% returns through 8-12 high quality European businesses with >15% ROIC purchased at cheap valuations. Current portfolio averages 22% ROIC and 7% free cash flow yield. Largest holding is Ashtead Technology, a subsea equipment rental company growing 35% annually. Manager co-invested with no management fee, performance fee only above 6% hurdle. |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
Industrial GasesSOL Group operates one of Europe's leading industrial gas franchises serving 50k customers across 32 countries, with a network of 39 air-separation units and 50+ filling plants that took almost a century to assemble. The business benefits from high switching costs, local oligopolies due to transport economics, and regulatory barriers that make replication extremely difficult. |
Industrial Gases Infrastructure Oligopoly Barriers Network |
HealthcareVivisol represents the largest home respiratory care provider in Italy, Belgium, and Netherlands, serving 750k patients with 13% compound annual growth over fourteen years. The business benefits from Europe's aging demographics and healthcare systems moving chronic care from hospitals to homes, creating a defensive, recurring revenue model. |
Healthcare Demographics Homecare Recurring Aging | |
AIManager maintains cautious stance on AI impact, particularly for software businesses, preferring companies with high barriers to entry that are unlikely to see their unit economics negatively affected by AI over the next decades. Focus remains on infrastructure and business services players rather than AI-exposed software. |
AI Software Infrastructure Disruption Barriers | |
QualityStrategy focuses on owning super-durable, quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, excellent management, and reasonable valuations. Emphasis on businesses designed to last like Roman aqueducts, with high barriers to entry and exceptionally resilient business models that can compound for decades. |
Quality Durability Moats Compounding Resilience | |
| 2025 Q3 |
SemiconductorsSemiconductor industry driving demand for gas detection equipment as TSMC builds new fabs globally to meet Nvidia GPU demand. Japan plans over 30 semiconductor projects by 2030, creating multi-decade volume tailwind for safety equipment. Each new fab requires thousands of fixed gas detectors with ongoing maintenance. |
Fabs TSMC Nvidia Safety Detection |
Industrial SafetySafety equipment industry benefits from regulatory requirements and reliability focus. Gas detection systems are mission-critical with high switching costs and recurring maintenance revenue. Customers prioritize reliability and service over price in safety-critical environments. |
Gas Detection Compliance Maintenance Reliability Regulation | |
JapanManager expanding circle of competence into Japanese market, finding investable opportunities despite initial hesitation. Japan represents world's 4th largest economy with precision engineering focus. Riken Keiki holds quasi-monopoly position in Japanese gas detection market with 70-80% market share. |
Market Share Precision Engineering Monopoly Expansion | |
| 2025 Q2 |
Data CentersWIIT operates twenty Tier IV data centers across Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, focusing on mission-critical workloads for enterprise clients. The business benefits from high switching costs, long-term contracts averaging five years, and 40% EBITDA margins through premium pricing for sovereign cloud solutions. |
Tier IV Infrastructure Sovereign Mission-critical Enterprise |
CloudEuropean cloud market is 70% controlled by US hyperscalers, creating opportunity for sovereign alternatives. WIIT provides private cloud solutions with data sovereignty, targeting clients who cannot risk sensitive data in public hyperscaler environments. Only 38% of European SMEs have adopted cloud solutions, indicating significant growth runway. |
Private Sovereign Hyperscalers Data sovereignty European | |
Data PrivacyEU regulatory concerns about digital sovereignty are driving demand for European cloud alternatives. Microsoft admitted it cannot guarantee French citizens' data stored in EU data centers is safe from US agency access. WIIT benefits from being immune to US or Chinese extraterritorial laws. |
Sovereignty Regulation Extraterritorial Compliance Privacy | |
| 2025 Q1 |
AIManager discusses AI's transformative impact on investment research and business models. While AI tools like ChatGPT-4o enhance research efficiency, they create challenges for traditional software companies and make survival forecasting more difficult. The manager emphasizes that AI cannot replace primary research and human judgment in investment decisions. |
ChatGPT Software Research Disruption Technology |
DistributionFocus on specialty chemical distributors as durable business models with strong moats. Distributors provide value-added services, technical expertise, and regulatory compliance while maintaining asset-light models. The complexity and relationship-driven nature of specialty distribution creates barriers to entry and pricing power. |
Specialty Chemicals Value-added Technical Asset-light Relationships | |
Specialty ChemicalsDeep dive into Azelis as a specialty chemicals distributor serving life sciences and industrial markets. The business model involves creating customized formulations through 70 labs, leveraging exclusive supplier relationships, and serving 59,000 customers across 65 countries with sticky, recurring revenue streams. |
Formulations Life Sciences Labs Exclusive Recurring | |
| 2024 Q4 |
Energy TransitionOffshore wind installations are projected to grow substantially with global capacity expected to increase several times over by the 2030s. The growing number of wind farm installations and mounting complexity create long-term positives for subsea equipment rental. Floating wind farms require even more maintenance due to heavy winds and essential cables and mooring systems. |
Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Wind Farms Floating Wind Energy Infrastructure |
OilOil and gas are the most essential components of the world's energy production, accounting for more than half of the global mix. Roughly 65% of the world's remaining oil reserves are offshore, meaning a significant portion of future demand must be met from offshore deposits. This creates structural tailwinds for offshore equipment rental. |
Offshore Oil Oil Reserves Energy Production Offshore Platforms Oil Exploration | |
SubseaThe market for subsea rental equipment is highly fragmented with structural growth trends. Rental models increasingly disrupt the legacy purchase model for niche equipment, with customers eliminating expenses from purchase, maintenance, storage, and personnel. The trend toward higher rental penetration continues in a large and growing total addressable market. |
Subsea Equipment Rental Models Offshore Equipment Subsea Technology Equipment Rental | |
| 2024 Q3 |
InfrastructureManager focuses on UK infrastructure maintenance through Renew Holdings, emphasizing system-critical maintenance services for rail, energy, and environmental sectors. The UK government has committed over £600bn over five years for infrastructure repair due to climate change and population growth pressures. |
Rail Infrastructure Infrastructure Spending Construction Maintenance |
IT ServicesPortfolio includes IT channel players like distributors and resellers as lower-risk derivatives of software investing. Manager views these as agnostic to specific solutions while benefiting from outsourced sales and marketing functions in fragmented markets. |
IT Services Software Distribution Cybersecurity | |
ValueManager implements concentrated value investing with focus on businesses trading below intrinsic value. Seeks companies with >7-8% current year free cash flow yields following the Warren Buffett rule for cheap entry valuations. |
Value Quality Concentration Free Cash Flow | |
| 2024 Q2 |
ValueThe partnership follows a strict value investing philosophy inspired by Warren Buffett, seeking high quality businesses available at cheap valuations with >7-8% current year effective free cash flow yield. They aim to purchase companies at a reasonably cheap valuation compared to their intrinsic values, known as margin of safety. |
Value Investing Margin of Safety Intrinsic Value Free Cash Flow Yield Cheap Valuation |
QualityThe fund exclusively invests in high ROIC businesses (>15%) with competitive advantages and durable free cash flows. They seek companies with economies of scale, high barriers to entry, network effects or switching costs, operated by excellent and aligned management teams with sound capital allocation frameworks. |
High ROIC Competitive Advantage Durable Cash Flows Management Quality Capital Allocation | |
SubseaTheir largest position is Ashtead Technology, a subsea rental equipment company that will benefit from accelerating demand for rental equipment for maintenance of subsea oil and gas infrastructure, as well as new construction of offshore windfarms. The business grew organically +35% in FY23. |
Subsea Equipment Offshore Rental Equipment Oil and Gas Infrastructure Offshore Wind |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 20, 2025 | Fund Letters | Baumann Capital | WIIT.MI | WIIT S.p.A. | Information Technology | Data Processing & Outsourced Services | Bull | Borsa Italiana | Cloud computing, data centers, data sovereignty, ERP systems, European Technology, high switching costs, Hybrid Cloud, infrastructure, M&A Consolidation, premium pricing, Private Cloud, recurring revenue, Regulatory tailwinds, SaaS, Tier IV Certification | Login |
| Jun 2, 2025 | Fund Letters | Baumann Capital | AZE.BR | Azelis | Materials | Specialty Chemicals | Bull | Euronext Brussels | asset-light, B2B Services, Belgium, Distributor, durability, Europe, Formulations, life sciences, Moat, personal care, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, Value | Login |
| Oct 15, 2024 | Fund Letters | Baumann Capital | RNWH.L | Renew Holdings plc | Industrials | Construction & Engineering | Bull | London Stock Exchange | defensive, Framework Agreements, government contracts, infrastructure, M&A, Maintenance, Rail, Recession-Resilient, ROIC, UK | Login |
| Jun 29, 2024 | Fund Letters | Baumann Capital | AT.L | Ashtead Technology | Energy | Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels | Bull | London Stock Exchange | energy transition, maintenance services, Offshore energy, Oil and Gas Infrastructure, Rental Services, Specialized Equipment, Subsea Equipment, Wind Farms | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| AHT.L | After receiving multiple requests, I'm doing my best to convince Alan Pirie, CEO of our offshore rental business Ashtead Tech, to join us this year. Alan is a powerhouse of a CEO, and I hope to report back with some good news on his attendance. |
| AI.PA | Air Liquide, one of our larger holdings in the portfolio, experienced downward market pressure. We trimmed our position over the last few months based on valuation yet view the company's strategic positioning in decarbonization and ongoing contract wins supporting durable earnings potential. |
| LIN | While the company remains a high-quality global leader in industrial gases, shares of Linde plc declined nearly 10% in Q4 due to a persistent industrial gas volume recession, softer guidance and global macroeconomic concerns. From a macro standpoint, the company continues to struggle with negative base volumes in its core industrial segments. |
| SOL.MI | Founded in 1927 in Monza, Italy, SOL emerged as a dual-engine industrial compounder with close to €2bn in sales. They operate both, one of Europe's leading industrial gas franchises serving 50k customers across 32 countries (think Linde or Air Liquide), as well as a homecare health business (called Vivisol) that has grown to 750k patients, making it the largest home respiratory care provider in Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. |
| WIT.MI | We had partners flying in from Berlin, Brussels, London, Luxembourg, Milan, and some who simply walked. It's been wonderful to see relationships built across the room and share a productive day together with the management of our data center business, WIIT. Live and in action is always best! A sincere mille grazie to Enrico Rampin and Christoph Herrnkind from WIIT for the revealing fireside chat and for leaning into all our questions. What a great opportunity to gain fresh business insights, remind them to keep raising prices and share why they deserve their spot in the fund. |
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