Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Danish fund boutique St. Petri Capital is making a second attempt at launching its long-only European small-cap fund after postponing its launch in late 2022 due to challenging market conditions. Ivan Larsen, a long-time small-cap-focused portfolio manager at Danske Bank Asset Management, joined St. Petri Capital as a partner last year to launch and manage St. Petri Europe Small Cap alongside Johann Grøndahl.
“Our new European Small Cap fund is starting,” Larsen announces on LinkedIn. The launch of the fund was initially planned for September or October of 2022. Following discussions with investors, the team decided to postpone the launch amid high uncertainty across financial markets stemming from worrying geopolitical and macroeconomic developments. St. Petri Capital is currently raising capital to launch the fund at a second attempt “as we are coming out of a downturn, where small-cap stocks were particularly hard hit,” according to a letter by Larsen.
“Our new European Small Cap fund is starting.”
Ivan Larsen and his co-manager Johann Grøndahl will employ a long-term stock-picking strategy focused on quality companies. “I have developed my investment philosophy over many years,” Larsen said back in 2022. “I have always been a long-term stock picker focusing on quality companies with a strong market position, companies that have some kind of uniqueness,” he explained his investment approach. “In our new fund, we define these as quality companies with an edge.”
The launch of the European Small Cap fund will complement St. Petri Capital’s core offering consisting of a thematic-focused long/short equity fund. St. Petri L/S, managed by St. Petri Capital co-founders Michal Danielewicz and Jens Larsson, has delivered an annualized return of about 13 percent since launching in early 2018 after booking an annual gain of 98 percent in 2020. The long/short equity fund gained 4.7 percent in the difficult market conditions of 2022 and was down 5.2 percent over the first four months of 2023. St. Petri Capital has also welcomed Claus Johansen as a portfolio manager and partner to launch a healthcare-focused long-only equity fund in the second half of this year.
