LATEST LETTERS
Our primary communication with investors is the annual letter. However, we also use quarterly updates to introduce new holdings and discuss any other updates to the business of Capensis. Our latest letters can be read here.
ANNUAL LETTER 2024
In our eighth annual letter we announce the rebranding of Capensis Capital as Granate Portfolios along with the planned launch of our Global Fund and why it makes sense for investors. We discuss the positive contributors to investment returns in the year, namely TSMC, Interactive Brokers and Berkshire Hathaway, and touch on some of the detractors.
THIRD QUARTER 2024
There are times when many of the share prices in a portfolio happen to go up in lockstep, even when those shares are diversified across industries and geographies. In this letter we highlight the broad range of contributors to recent good returns, and why we continue to see opportunities across the portfolio. We also introduce the Dutch-based manufacturer of lithography equipment, ASML.
SECOND QUARTER 2024
At a recent investment conference, we were asked to describe our investment process as a culinary dish. We realised that our investment process is best represented by the “chef’s special” that is scribbled daily on the blackboard of options. We explain how we go about selecting the best ingredients and blending them together to serve up the perfect dish in your portfolio.
FIRST QUARTER 2024
This quarter marks the seventh birthday of Capensis Capital. This is a milestone, but we are still in the early years of our dream. We discuss the main contributor to performance in the period, a strong run within the semiconductor portfolio. We explain the factors contributing to excitement in this area, and why we have chosen to trim our memory exposure.
ARCHIVE OF LETTERS
We have made all our quarterly letters since inception available here to openly share our investment journey, the highs and lows, successes and failures, and what we have learnt along the way.
ANNUAL LETTER 2023
Closing out 2023, we remain excited about the prospects of many of the companies you own and believe that there are many different opportunity sets in the portfolio. In our annual letter we highlight some of these themes: semiconductors, listed property, strong growth platforms and investment companies.
THIRD QUARTER 2023
During the quarter we sold out of Adobe, added a new position in EOG Resources and allocated more to the property stocks we discussed in our first quarter letter. In this letter we introduce EOG, explaining our rationale behind investing in an oil company during this early phase of the global energy transition.
SECOND QUARTER 2023
Most of our work analysing companies follows the process of considering whether a company is of sufficient quality to invest in. We cannot guarantee that we will avoid all mistakes, but if we do our job right we might go through periods where there is little change to your portfolio. This quarter is one such period.
FIRST QUARTER 2023
This quarter marks the sixth birthday of Capensis Capital. Over the quarter we began adding listed property to the portfolio and provide a writeup of our rationale for investing in this unloved space. We also discuss our concerns about the risks posed by rapidly rising rates which led to selling out of First Republic Bank.
ANNUAL LETTER 2022
In our sixth annual letter we discuss the timeless principles that provide comfort in times of uncertainty. While we are disappointed in the returns over the past year, we remain excited about the intrinsic potential of the portfolio. We discuss the main detractors from performance and the potential we continue to see in many of these companies.
THIRD QUARTER 2022
There is currently a stampede out of risky assets to cash as investors look for a safe place to hide out the chaos. We are taking a different view, selectively adding to equities, mostly in the UK and out of favour corners of the US, where share prices fail to reflect the long-term optimism we feel. We discuss the short term risks but potential long-term rewards.
SECOND QUARTER 2022
We address some of the recent market volatility and how we make the right decisions in the midst of pounding storms. We discuss the opportunities that have opened up to buy great companies at bargain prices, adding to our semiconductor exposure and Howden Joinery. We introduce our new addition, Adobe and explain our exit from Twitter.
FIRST QUARTER 2022
This quarter marks the fifth birthday of Capensis Capital. Five years still places us firmly in the early years of our dream. We wrote in our introductory letter that “our aim for Capensis is to build our corporate home for the next 40 years or more. We love what we do, and we hope to continue doing it for decades to come”. In this letter we discuss how we are navigating turbulent waters.
ANNUAL LETTER 2021
Closing out a pleasing year, we highlight key contributors to performance including the semiconductor businesses, First Republic Bank and Berkshire Hathaway. We also explain why we believe the main detractors (Wix, Twitter and AIA Group) are misunderstood opportunities with strong growth potential.
THIRD QUARTER 2021
In this letter we discuss Micron, one of a few investments where we are excited about the long-term opportunity in a market that is generally focused on the near-term direction of share prices. We provide an update on MEIP and introduce a new position in Wix (which we used to create this website).
SECOND QUARTER 2021
After a period of good performance, we discuss our approach to patient investing and taking a long-term view: batting averages rather than big swings. This includes a brief update on our trading in the quarter - no new positions but continuing to allocate to the best opportunities.
SECOND QUARTER 2020
With portfolio performance back to where it started 2020, we discuss how its composition has changed to reflect a changed world. We reflect once again on the investment case for semiconductors into a rapidly digitising world and introduce AIA Group, a Hong Kong based life insurance company.
THIRD QUARTER 2019
We reiterate our approach of keeping cash to add resilience during market downturns and offer flexibility. We explain our decision to sell Teekay Offshore and provide an update on developments at Burford following a negative report on the company and political changes in Argentina.
OUR FIRST LETTER
Introducing Capensis - April 2017
In our very first letter we introduce Capensis Capital to prospective investors. We discuss our investment philosophy, our dreams for the business, what we offer, the fees we charge and the benchmarks we will be measured by. This is the best place to start if you'd like to determine whether Capensis is a match for your needs.