| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| - | - | 20.7% |
| 2025 |
|---|
| 20.7% |
Protean Small Cap delivered exceptional 2025 performance with 20.7% returns, outperforming its benchmark by 13.4% and achieving 67.9% total returns since inception in June 2023. The fund's success stems from active Nordic small cap investing, including a cornerstone investment in Arctic Falls IPO which became the largest position after gaining 30% from offering price. Key contributors included Rusta, Pexip, and EQT, while detractors were Lindex and Boule Diagnostics. The manager emphasizes this strong performance may not continue, acknowledging the unpredictable nature of returns. A significant portion of the letter analyzes structural headwinds facing the Nordic forest industry, particularly Holmen, which faces declining paper demand, eucalyptus competition, climate challenges, and currency pressures. The fund maintains a short position in Holmen due to these fundamental contradictions. Portfolio changes included selling Nilfisk and Sinch while adding Afry and Arctic Falls, maintaining 47 total positions with a focus on diversified Nordic small cap opportunities.
Active Nordic small cap investing can generate significant outperformance through selective stock picking, cornerstone IPO investments, and contrarian positioning while avoiding structural value traps like the declining forest products industry.
The manager acknowledges that not all years will be like 2025 despite building a strong track record, emphasizing that there's no schedule on which performance reliably shows up and they might have three mediocre years ahead.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 3 2026 | 2025 Q4 | ADDV.ST, AFRY.ST, ASMO.PA, BOULE.ST, CLAS-B.ST, EQT.ST, HOLMEN-B.ST, ITAB.ST, LINDEX.ST, MAERSK-B.CO, NILFSK.CO, PEXIP.OL, REJL.ST, RUSTA.ST, SINCH.ST, STO.ST, UPM.HE | active management, Forest Products, IPO, Nordics, Outperformance, small caps | - | Nordic forest industry faces structural headwinds from eucalyptus competition taking market share, climate challenges affecting harvesting, and currency pressures. Holmen specifically struggles with integrated mills… |
| Oct 1 2025 | 2025 Q3 | 4KK1 GR, EAST SS, GRNG SS, HLUNB DC | industrials, Nordic, real estate, small caps, valuation | - | The letter highlights inefficiencies in Nordic small caps where nimble funds can exploit mispricings. Protean emphasizes valuation sensitivity, active trading, and selective risk-taking. Small caps… |
| Jul 1 2025 | 2025 Q2 | ENITY SS, OSSD SS, SINCH SS, SNTIA NO | fundamentals, growth, Inefficiency, Nordics, small caps | - | The commentary highlights Nordic small-cap equities as an inefficient segment offering mispriced growth opportunities. Management emphasizes bottom-up fundamentals, early-cycle companies, and balance sheet strength. The… |
| May 5 2025 | 2025 Q1 | 2EX SS, BIIB, GETIB SS, ITAB SS, LINDEX FH, LRCX, RATOB SS | - | - | - |
| Jan 7 2025 | 2024 Q4 | 1DZ GR, C1C1 GR, DAVA DC | - | - | - |
| Oct 1 2024 | 2024 Q3 | 0MCB LN, IBT LN, ITAB SS | - | - | - |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
Forest ProductsNordic forest industry faces structural headwinds from eucalyptus competition taking market share, climate-related harvesting challenges, and currency pressures. Holmen specifically struggles with integrated mills, declining paper demand, and the contradiction between maximizing forest values and industrial margins. |
Eucalyptus Pulp Paper Climate Currency |
NordicsFocus on Nordic markets through multiple fund strategies including small cap, hedge fund, and low-fee active fund. Strong performance across Nordic-focused strategies with significant assets under management growth. |
Sweden Finland Denmark Active Outperformance | |
Small CapsConcentrated portfolio of small-cap companies with limited sell-side coverage and institutional ownership. Invests where most institutional managers cannot or will not participate, allowing for asymmetric return potential. 44% of Russell 2000 stocks have zero Wall Street coverage, creating mispriced opportunities. |
Russell 2000 Limited Coverage Institutional Asymmetric Mispriced | |
| 2025 Q3 |
IndustrialsThe fund increased exposure to high-quality industrial businesses with potential for cyclical upturn. Added Quanta Services for AI data center build-out, Hubbell for electrical grid upgrades, Old Dominion for freight cycle recovery, and Waste Connections for secondary market focus. |
Infrastructure Automation Transportation Electrical Equipment Waste Management |
Real Estate |
||
Small CapsConcentrated portfolio of small-cap companies with limited sell-side coverage and institutional ownership. Invests where most institutional managers cannot or will not participate, allowing for asymmetric return potential. 44% of Russell 2000 stocks have zero Wall Street coverage, creating mispriced opportunities. |
Russell 2000 Limited Coverage Institutional Asymmetric Mispriced | |
| 2025 Q2 |
SmallCaps |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Elevator Pitches found | ||||||||||
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| ADDV.ST | The Swedish medtech company Addvise is a relatively recent entrant as we started buying shares this summer. The bid comes from Amplex, controlled by the biggest shareholder in Addvise Kenneth Lindquist. Since the initial bid in early December, the offer level has been upped from 1.65 to 1.72 and the bid has received pre-commitments of slightly more than 50%. We see the raised bid as fair and intend to tender our shares when the acceptance period begins. |
| ASMO.PA | Detractors were Lindex, Asmodee long and Maersk short. Detractors were Lindex, Boule Diagnostics, Rejlers, Asmodee and ITAB Shop Concept. |
| CLAS-B.ST | Biggest contributors to returns were Rusta, Greater Than, EQT all longs, and Clas Ohlson short. |
| EQT.ST | Biggest contributors to returns were Rusta, Greater Than, EQT all longs. |
| HOLMEN-B.ST | Holmen is doubling down on paper production, investing in its paper machines and taking a bigger share of a structurally declining market. Holmen has explicitly stated they cannot expand pulpwood consumption and are returning SEK 3-6 billion annually because they have no good reinvestment opportunities. We are short Holmen for the above reasons. |
| LINDEX.ST | Lindex announced that they have decided to 'separate' their struggling warehouse business, Stockmann. The problem was that the anticipation was that they would announce the actual divestment of it, not just the decision. The share lost 11 per cent during December. |
| MAERSK-B.CO | Detractors were Lindex, Asmodee long and Maersk short. |
| NILFSK.CO | The Danish industrial Nilfisk received a bid from the German company Freudenberg. The bid represented a 36 per cent premium compared to the close the day prior. We have owned Nilfisk for quite some time, and to be honest, it's been a mixed journey. Nilfisk became a too centralized, too bureaucratic company under prior management, and a new management team is set on correcting this, which has attracted us. However, the bid is backed by the board, offers immediate gratification and we sold our shares promptly after the announcement as the share traded close to the bid level. |
| PEXIP.OL | Pexip and Rusta were also top 5 contributors. Pexip increased its ARR guidance for the full-year as performance in the fourth quarter was better than expected. The share gained 30 per cent during December and has also become a top three contributor for the full-year 2025. |
| RUSTA.ST | Biggest contributors to returns were Rusta, Greater Than, EQT all longs. Rusta, our biggest contributor, added 0.5% to returns. Rusta published a strong report, and the share gained 24 per cent. We wrote about this Swedish hard discount retailer recently, and the thesis is playing out as intended (so far). |
| STO.ST | Stora Enso's Fors mill in Sweden is now importing 100% of the pulp from South America, and brag that this saves them 7m EUR per year, crucially without causing any material changes to process or end product. |
| UPM.HE | UPM have 60% of their pulp capacity in Uruguay already. |
| 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 | |||
