Why we hold for ten years

A holding period is not a preference. It is a constraint that shapes every decision made inside a portfolio company.

Under a three-year horizon, the training academy with a five-year payback does not get funded. The site consolidation that costs eighteen months of disruption does not get started. The pricing reset that loses volume before it gains margin never survives the board pack.

Under a ten-year horizon, all three are obvious. The projects are not more clever. They are simply allowed to finish.

This is why our fund structures permit holds of up to a decade and why we avoid capital structures that convert a soft trading year into a covenant negotiation. Leverage is a tool, not a strategy, and an over-levered business loses the option to be patient exactly when patience is worth most.

The trade-off is real. Long holds concentrate risk, demand more of our operating partners, and test the relationship between investor and management. We accept that trade willingly, because compounding inside a good business remains the most reliable source of return we have found.