Why consider a boutique value manager at all?
A small firm can own companies that are too small, too far from New York or too little followed for a large fund to bother with. That is where prices most often stray from value. The trade-offs are real: a boutique depends more on a few people, has a smaller operation, and usually runs a more concentrated portfolio, so its results can differ sharply from the index in any year.
“Although our strategy does not exclude large-cap investments by design, we currently find a more compelling balance of valuation and growth prospects outside of the most crowded areas of the market.”
1. Is the strategy clear, and has it stayed the same?
Look for one strategy you can state in a sentence, and evidence in the letters that the manager has followed it through good and bad years.
Phoenician Capital: one global, long-only equity strategy that combines value discipline with growth investing in primarily founder-led businesses, bought below intrinsic value and held for years. See our strategy.
2. Is the track record net of fees, audited and complete?
Ask for net returns for every year since launch, including the losing years, audited by a recognised firm, with the period stated.
Phoenician Capital: our performance page shows the net return for every year since January 2009, including down years. Annual returns are audited from 2009 to 2025; the current year is unaudited.
3. Who are the independent service providers?
An independent administrator and auditor check what the manager reports.
Phoenician Capital: J.P. Morgan is the fund administrator and provides quarterly net asset value statements. PwC audits the fund every year.
4. Is the manager registered, and can you check it yourself?
Registration and public identifiers let you verify the firm without relying on its own website.
Phoenician Capital: registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its filings are listed under SEC Central Index Key 0001766752, and its Legal Entity Identifier is 894500ER20IOPJKK9851. Advisers can also be looked up on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site.
5. How concentrated is the portfolio, and how is risk controlled?
Concentration raises the stakes of every decision. Ask how many holdings there are, whether the manager uses leverage, short selling or derivatives, and how it defines risk.
Phoenician Capital: about 20 to 25 holdings, with no leverage, short selling or derivatives. We define risk as the chance of a permanent loss of capital, not short-term price swings, and position sizing is our main risk control. See our process.
6. Does the manager invest alongside you, and are fees aligned?
Ask whether the manager's own money is in the fund and when performance fees are earned.
Phoenician Capital: we invest our own capital alongside our investors. Performance fees apply only above a high-water mark and after a 6% hurdle rate.
7. Does the manager write openly about mistakes?
Letters that discuss only winners tell you little. Look for letters that explain losses and what the manager learned.
Phoenician Capital: our quarterly letters discuss losing investments as well as winners. Of Goodfood Market, an investment made in 2020 and exited in 2026:
“The real issue wasn't the initial misjudgment. It was staying in the position too long and failing to adjust when reality diverged from thesis.”
8. How does the manager use technology and AI?
AI can widen what a small team covers. Ask what it does, where the data goes, and who makes the decisions.
Phoenician Capital: Phoenician Intelligence, our own AI research platform, runs on our own models in our own data centre. It reads filings, flags accounting anomalies and runs first valuations. The investment team does the full due diligence and makes every decision.
“This is not a gimmick. It's a real edge that augments, not automates, judgement, and it compounds quietly behind the scenes, just like the companies we seek to own.”