The way that we understand conventional portfolio management is that it’s necessary, but not sufficient.​

The rigour and discipline are needed. Practices around vetting and pipeline development are useful. Modeling different scenarios for financial performance can help inform decisions. ​

But when looking to invest systemically, conventional portfolio practice quickly hits its limits. Much of the value generated through systemic investing doesn’t get generated or captured through any one individual entity or node in the system, but is spread across. The timelines don’t usually fit neatly into standard fund approaches. And IPOs usually aren’t going to be a hot topic. ​

Instead we look to structures like evergreen and steward-owned structures (where they fit). We engage in mission orchestration. We use polycapital strategies. We budget for field infrastructure and narrative. We actively seek interrelationability and zebras, not isolation and unicorns.​

With all that in mind, we made a conscious choice to not build a formal portfolio, nor a fund, nor even pool capital. So what do we do?​

We designed the Explorers Club to be a deal by deal approach. We think we can add something with our networks, knowledge and capital. We begin with the interest of the explorers themselves to expand into different topics.​

The logic is that we first need to go from themes that appeal to the individuals. Approach those as systemically as possible, e.g. by bringing them together in heatmaps that make us think and reflect. Then we go towards filling some gaps while recognising that other gaps are not ours.​

In our heatmap we saw that new materials and local manufacturing is empty, because these are just not the interests of this group. But even choosing to not address something raises awareness. ​

Some Explorers go with bigger tickets in different bigger impact funds, many of them into circularity or emerging markets. So the tendency and the drive grows to also add other bigger tickets, which can happen outside the explorers club by our members. ​

The Explorers engage with their families, growing their desire to work together on pooled funds and more. Our club is where ideas are born. A systemic multi-family office, integrated public equities and real estate, bigger impact funds, cutting-edge philanthropy. All of these and more are brewing. And we feel that getting fixated with a collective fund would actually inhibit that creative energy. ​

As it is, we’re definitely on the move! ☺​