| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 9.8% | - | 10.2% |
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.2% | 4.6% | 28.9% | -14.1% | 7.4% | 25.9% |
Highwood Value Partners delivered 5.7% in H2 2025, bringing full-year returns to 10.2% and total returns since inception to 76% net of fees. The manager maintains a concentrated approach with 83% invested across 11 companies trading at 48 cents on the dollar of estimated fair value. Recent portfolio changes included exiting all original positions from inception (Protector, Ryanair, Alimak) at attractive valuations, realizing 2.0x money and 16% IRR on average across the initial cohort. The portfolio is now more concentrated than ever, with top 5 positions representing 57% of capital. Key holdings include Burford Capital (litigation finance), Borr Drilling (offshore drilling capital cycle play), GetBusy (UK software with US asset monetization catalyst), Fever-Tree (premium mixers with Molson Coors partnership), and Bolloré (French holding company simplification story). The manager sees geopolitical shifts creating new opportunities rather than diminishing the investable universe, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and patient capital deployment in a changing landscape.
Concentrated value investing in European SMID cap companies trading at significant discounts to intrinsic value, with focus on special situations and capital cycle opportunities where catalysts can drive value realization over 2-5 year periods.
The substantial developments in geopolitics and macro environment change the opportunity set but do not necessarily diminish it. The right response is ensuring investment flexibility to capitalize on new opportunities emerging from change, not market timing or running to cash.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 20 2026 | 2025 Q4 | 2333.HK, ALIM-B.ST, BOL.PA, BORR, BUR.L, FEVR.L, GETB.L, JZC.L, MOT.L, ODET.PA, PROT.OL, RYA.L, STDRL.OL, SYY, TAP, TGO.PA, UMG.AS, VIV.PA, VWS.CO | Capital Cycle, Concentration, energy, Europe, Litigation Finance, special situations, value |
BUR LN BORR NO GETB LN FEVR LN RYAAY |
Manager emphasizes concentrated value investing approach, buying companies at significant discounts to fair value. Portfolio trades at 48 cents on the dollar of estimated intrinsic… |
| Jul 15 2025 | 2025 Q2 | ALIG SS, BORR, BUR, FEVR, GETB LN, HFG GR, JZCP LN, MOTR LN, ODET FP, PROT NO, RYA ID, TRI FP | Capital Allocation, Compounding, ROCE, small caps, valuation gaps |
TRI FP PROT NO FEVR LN MOTR LN JZCP LN BUR LN BOL HFG BORR |
The letter highlights long-term compounding through ownership of capital-light, high-ROCE businesses purchased at discounted valuations. Management emphasizes international small- and mid-cap opportunities where mispricing is… |
| Jan 15 2025 | 2024 Q4 | 0RYA LN, ALIG SS, BOL FP, BORR, BUR, FEVR LN, GETB LN, HFG GR, JZCP LN, MOTR LN, PROT NO, WINE LN | - | - | - |
| Jul 11 2024 | 2024 Q2 | - | - | - | - |
| Jan 28 2024 | 2023 Q4 | - | - | - | - |
| Oct 15 2023 | 2023 Q3 | - | - | - | - |
| Jul 5 2023 | 2023 Q2 | - | - | - | - |
| Apr 15 2023 | 2023 Q1 | - | - | - | - |
| Jan 16 2023 | 2022 Q4 | - | - | - | - |
| Oct 20 2022 | 2022 Q3 | - | - | - | - |
| Jul 14 2022 | 2022 Q2 | - | - | - | - |
| Apr 15 2022 | 2022 Q1 | - | - | - | - |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
Capital MarketsCapital markets are wide open with elevated levels of debt issuance, equity offerings, and M&A volumes. Falling interest rates, rising equity prices, and improving corporate confidence are driving an optimistic outlook for deals, which should benefit advisory firms, rating agencies, and alternative asset managers. |
Investment Banking M&A Debt Issuance Advisory Alternative Assets |
EnergyEnergy plays a critical role in AI infrastructure economics, with data centers becoming major electricity consumers. Rising power costs compress margins while grid constraints and regulatory scrutiny influence deployment timelines. The manager emphasizes that unlike software-driven growth, AI compute cannot be scaled independently of physical energy reality. |
Data Centers Grid Power Infrastructure Utilities | |
ValueManager emphasizes investing in controlled companies trading at significant discounts to NAV, with European holding companies showing discounts of 30-68%. The strategy focuses on securities mispricing where real value exists, contrasting with overvalued technology stocks. |
Discounts NAV Mispricing Undervalued Controlled | |
| 2025 Q2 |
Compounding |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | JZCP LN | JZ Capital Partners Limited | Financials | Asset Management & Custody Banks | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | discount, Distributions, Liquidation, NAV, Privateequity | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | BUR LN | Burford Capital Limited | Financials | Asset Management & Custody Banks | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Deployments, litigation, Option, Realizations | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | BOL | Bolloré and Compagnie de l’Odet | Communication Services | Entertainment | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | conglomerate, entertainment, Europe, restructuring, Special situations, Streaming | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | HFG | Hello Fresh | Consumer Discretionary | Food Retail & Distribution | Neutral | New York Stock Exchange | consumer staples, e-commerce, Germany, Meal kits, Ready-to-Eat | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | BORR | Borr Drilling | Energy | Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Drilling, energy, Jackup, Offshore, Shallow-Water | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | BUR LN | Burford Capital Ltd | Financials | Asset Management & Custody | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Book Value, Catalysts, Litigation Finance, mispricing, Special situations | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | BORR NO | Borr Drilling Ltd | Energy | Oil & Gas Drilling | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Capital Cycle, offshore drilling, Rig Rates, Supply Constraint, turnaround | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | GETB LN | GetBusy plc | Information Technology | Application Software | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | monetization, operating leverage, productivity software, small-cap, Special Situation | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | FEVR LN | Fever-Tree Drinks plc | Consumer Staples | Beverages | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Brand Power, Joint venture, Margin recovery, Premium Beverages, rerating | Login |
| Jan 20, 2026 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | RYAAY | Ryanair Holdings plc | Industrials | Airlines | Bull | NASDAQ | Airlines, cashflow, Cyclicality, Low cost, market share | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | TRI FP | Trigano SA | Consumer Discretionary | Automobile Manufacturers | Bull | Euronext Stock Exchange | Acquisitions, Demographics, RVs, scale, Succession | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | PROT NO | Protector Forsikring ASA | Financials | Property & Casualty Insurance | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | combined ratio, compounding, Cost advantage, Float, Insurance | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | FEVR LN | Fever-Tree Drinks PLC | Consumer Staples | Soft Drinks | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Brand, Distribution, M&A, Margins, Partnerships | Login |
| Jul 15, 2025 | Fund Letters | Desmond Kingsford | MOTR LN | Motorpoint Group PLC | Consumer Discretionary | Automotive Retail | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Autos, Costs, Freecashflow, marketshare, Normalization | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| BOL.PA | On my math, the discount to the market value of the holdings, primarily UMG, is little changed over our holding period but the market price of UMG shares has declined 25% to €22 each. There has been solid progress toward simplification of the holding structure with multiple mergers of subsidiaries of Bollore SE which hold treasury shares and the various holdcos above Bollore buying back shares in Odet and Bollore to monetize the discount on offer. |
| BORR | When we bought the shares, the business was doing run-rate EBITDA of c.$100mn. It is now doing run-rate EBITDA of $500mn. Borr also successfully re-financed its debt, which was another key plank of the thesis. The share price is up a bit but has lagged these developments in my view. |
| BUR.L | Burford has compounded book value per share and realized cash proceeds from litigation matters settled and adjudicated ahead of my original underwriting assumptions. The best measure of fundamental progress of the core business ex YPF is the cash 'run-off' value of the existing book of claims, which incorporates both realizations (cash in) and deployments (cash out) as well as a rate of return assumption on those deployments. My estimate of that value has increased from c. $9 to c.$12.50 per share. Meanwhile the share price is essentially unchanged from our original purchase price of $9.50. |
| FEVR.L | We acquired our Fever-Tree shares in late 2024, in part on the basis that current management would resolve recent margin pressure or find itself in the hands of a larger acquiror. The JV agreement with Molson Coors and their acquisition of a 9% stake in the company in January 2025 was, I believe, a strong endorsement of this aspect of the thesis. |
| GETB.L | We added to GetBusy in late 2024 at £0.56/share, a 'Crazy Cheap' valuation. GetBusy raised its outlook in September 2025 following the announcement that a large competitor was exiting the market (Thomson Reuters' FileCabinet CS). GetBusy's directors and executives repeatedly bought stock at rising prices after the September release. |
| ODET.PA | Odet (ODET FP) Value Turnaround -30% Lack of buyback in 2H widened discount |
| RYA.L | After posting an in-line September quarter and providing a better-than-expected outlook for the holiday travel season based on forward bookings, Ryanair outlined a bullish long-term outlook. Based on continued industry capacity constraints and the company's widening unit cost advantage, Ryanair believes it can raise fares while maintaining its significant value gap to competitors and increase net profit per passenger from €10 today to €12 to €14 over the next decade. |
| SYY | Sysco shares dropped after management's conservative outlook for fiscal year 2026 due to continued macro uncertainties and uneven demand in the 'food-away-from-home' sector. |
| TAP | layoff announcements from major companies including Meta, Target, Amazon, Molson Coors |
| UMG.AS | UMG is a high-quality, capital-light, rapidly growing royalty on greater music consumption. 'Streaming 2.0' deals, which incorporate wholesale price increases, should lead to higher subscription revenue growth. New partners and product tiers should allow for better customer segmentation. AI can be a further tailwind to growth. |
| VIV.PA | Concerns over regulatory difficulties across group companies |
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Bought | Shares Bought | % Change | Weight % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Recent Buys Data | |||||
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Sold | Shares Sold | % Change | Weight % | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Recent Sells Data | ||||||
| Industry | Prev Quarter % | Current Quarter % | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| No industry data available | |||
