Willow Oak and Focused Compounding Announce Partnership

Willow Oak Asset Management and Focused Compounding announce the launch of a new private partnership to begin investing on January 1, 2020.

The fund will be managed by Geoff Gannon of Focused Compounding with assistance from his colleague, Andrew Kuhn. Willow Oak’s Fund Management Services will financially and logistically facilitate the launch of the fund and provide operational support through an ongoing, permanent relationship. Willow Oak will own a stake in Focused Compounding’s management company and earn a revenue fee share at the management-company level.

Focused Compounding was launched in 2017 by Geoff Gannon and Andrew Kuhn. It currently offers an investment portfolio through managed accounts and provides research services to subscribers. The forthcoming investment partnership will be managed with a similar philosophy as Focused Compounding’s current offerings but will be tailored to qualified clients.

Steven Kiel, the chairman of Willow Oak’s parent company, said, “I have followed Geoff Gannon’s research for more than 12 years. He is a uniquely talented researcher and portfolio manager. Our entire team is also highly impressed with the work that Geoff’s colleague Andrew Kuhn has done in the past year, including podcasts, research, and operational work.

“This relationship between Willow Oak and Focused Compounding perfectly fits into our mission to partner with unique, emerging portfolio managers. We are reducing the fund start-up risks, providing assistance with all of the operational aspects of the fund, and ensuring that Focused Compounding’s new fund has the best possible chance of success at launch.”

Focused Compounding’s Geoff Gannon said, “For a couple years now, Andrew has handled every single aspect of our investment business except for just three simple decisions I make: 1) what stocks to buy/sell, 2) how many shares of them to buy/sell, and 3) at what price? That’s all I do. Andrew does absolutely everything else. Now, with a fund, we’ve outgrown the abilities of one person—even Andrew—to handle everything else. Willow Oak can do that. They can fund the start-up costs, handle the logistics, and shepherd us through a process they’ve experienced before that we never have—a fund launch.

“As an investor in overlooked stocks, I was already following the public company Steve is chairman of and could see he was a man of integrity. And like anyone focused on overlooked stocks, I was also following Dave Waters’s Alluvial Fund from the start (and reading his OTCAdventures blog for years before that). So I knew Willow Oak was run by the right kind of people and had already partnered with the right kind of value investors. Andrew and I are both bottom-up stock pickers who focus on overlooked stocks. I’m sure we’ll feel right at home as a Willow Oak-affiliated fund.”

Andrew Kuhn added, “A number of significant investors approached us over the past year indicating that they would be interested in investing with us through a fund structure. We are excited to receive that support and have also added multi-million-dollar commitments from institutional investors in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Having Willow Oak by our side with this launch will ensure that Focused Compounding has the necessary operational support for the fund to scale.”

To learn more about Focused Compounding, please visit focusedcompounding.com.