Paradigm Capital Value Fund

By: Elena Corsi and Luis M. Viceira

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Synopsis: Karl Jan Erick Hummel had founded Paradigm Capital Value Fund in 2007 together with Columbia Business School Professor Bruce Greenwald, an expert in value investing and now chairman of the fund. The fund followed the principles of value investing to their target universe: publicly traded companies with market capitalization between 100 million and 4.5 billion based in Germany, the Nordic countries, the U.K., and Ireland. Hummel and Greenwald believed they had developed an investing edge in that universe, ignored by large U.S. and U.K. based funds, through deep research and by locating their headquarters close to companies and their management. Hummel and his team of six analysts were based in a small suburb of Munich, Germany. Paradigm Capital Value Fund was highly concentrated, with 60% of its assets invested in four stocks, and held its positions for long periods of time. Hummel had to decide if it was time to divest from one of their main investments, a German manufacturer of roll-over car washing systems, and instead invest in a German truck equipment supplier. At the same time, Hummel was concerned by how to grow the fund.