15 years of successfully investing in Europe – and looking ahead

The team is proud of this milestone, not least because longevity and outperformance in active management is rare. Since inception, the strategy has delivered an annualized net return of around 11%, equivalent to approximately five times the initial capital invested. It has also outperformed its benchmark and ranks in the first quartile among peers. Over that period, the strategy has navigated the eurozone crisis, Brexit, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, the 2022 interest rate shock, tariffs and renewed geopolitical tensions. Such consistency across different market environments reflects the discipline of the fund’s investment philosophy and the investment process.

«Fifteen years is a great milestone because it demonstrates the durability of the strategy, » said Birgitte Olsen, Team Head and Co-Lead Portfolio Manager of the fund. «This should not be taken for granted. According to the latest SPIVA Europe report, less than 60% of European equity funds survive a 10-year period.»

Bellevue Entrepreneur Europe Small focuses on European small and mid-cap companies, a universe of more than 2000 names that is less researched and less efficiently priced than large caps. Within that universe, the team looks for entrepreneur-led businesses, run or influenced by founders, families or committed long-term shareholders, where management and investors share the same interests.

Strict valuation discipline is equally important. The team invests only when a company trades at a meaningful discount to its assessment of intrinsic value, giving the strategy both upside potential and a margin of safety. This makes the approach style agnostic. The fund invests across Value, GARP and Growth companies, provided the fundamentals justify the price.

«Our edge comes from specialization, access and patience,» said Laurent Picard, Co-Lead Portfolio Manager. «The European small and mid-cap universe is broad and fragmented, which rewards sector expertise, local knowledge and direct company access. Patience matters as well. We are willing to look through near-term uncertainty when we believe a company’s value creation potential remains intact.»

One of the most important lessons from the past 15 years concerns balance sheet strength and management quality. Looking back, mistakes have typically come from underestimating a company’s leverage or from not being critical enough of how management allocated capital. When a cyclical downturn meets a stretched balance sheet and a weak management team, temporary difficulty can become a permanent loss of capital.

«Financial resilience remains central to how we invest,» said Eduardo Bravo, Portfolio Manager of the strategy. «Today, around 30% of the portfolio is invested in companies with net cash, and the average net debt / EBITDA of the portfolio is below 1x. Strong balance sheets are not merely defensive. They buy optionality: the ability to keep investing, gain market share or acquire weaker competitors precisely when others are forced to retrench.»

Today, the team believes the backdrop for European small and mid-cap companies is one of the more compelling it has seen in some time. The asset class is exposed to some of the most powerful structural shifts currently shaping the global economy. Electrification, AI infrastructure, energy efficiency, industrial automation and reshoring are all generating substantial demand for highly specialized businesses. Many of these companies are not simply benefiting from these trends. They are leaders in specific niches of the value chain, with pricing power and growth runways that extend beyond a single cycle.

At the same time, valuations remain attractive. European small caps continue to trade below their historical average multiples and at a significant discount to large caps. This is historically notable, as small caps have typically commanded a valuation premium, reflecting their superior long-term growth potential.

«For long-term investors, we believe the combination of improving fundamentals, depressed valuations and exposure to structural growth creates an attractive opportunity,» said Birgitte Olsen. «As the fund enters its next chapter, our focus remains unchanged: applying the same discipline that has guided the strategy over the past 15 years and investing in high-quality, entrepreneur-led companies with the potential to compound capital over the long term.»