Kabouter Management

Founder Peter Zaldivar serves as the lead portfolio manager and makes all final investment decisions. Kenneth J. Zuckerberg joined as an additional portfolio manager, deepening the analytical bench. The firm operates without a large investment committee, keeping the decision-making chain short — a structure the firm argues is necessary for the rapid, site-visit-driven style of European small-cap investing.

Kabouter concentrates on developed Europe ex-UK, targeting small- and mid-cap publicly listed equities. The mandate excludes large-cap pan-European names and emerging markets. By operating below the large-cap radar — in a $200 million to $5 billion market-cap band — the firm accesses a universe of approximately 1,500 companies that most US-based international managers overlook due to capacity constraints.

Kabouter invests exclusively in publicly listed equities. The firm does not participate in venture capital, growth equity, or pre-IPO rounds. This public-markets-only mandate means the portfolio remains fully liquid, and the research process relies on public filings, management access, and field diligence rather than the structured information rights that accompany private investments.

The firm manages a concentrated portfolio, typically holding between 25 and 35 names. This concentration reflects the belief that genuine quality-growth companies are scarce in the small-cap space, and that spreading bets across 60–80 names would dilute both returns and the intensity of diligence the firm applies to each position. Position sizing is conviction-weighted rather than benchmark-driven.

Kabouter's primary sourcing method is on-the-ground company visits, local-language management meetings, and supply-chain interviews across Europe — a resource-intensive approach that large platforms with thousands of holdings cannot replicate economically. The firm does not rely on quantitative screens or broker-generated trade ideas as primary inputs, and the team's accumulated relationships in European industrial and healthcare corridors provide proprietary access to management teams.

Kabouter operates as a long-only fundamental equity manager, not a hedge fund. The firm does not employ leverage, short selling, or derivative overlays. Institutional investors access the strategy through a single concentrated vehicle structured for US taxable and tax-exempt allocators seeking pure European small-cap exposure without the complexity or lock-up provisions of a hedge fund structure.

The name comes from the Dutch word for a gnome-like folklore figure, traditionally depicted as a small, bearded being that protects treasure — a reference to the firm's focus on guarding capital while operating in European markets. Founder Peter Zaldivar selected the name as a deliberate signal of the firm's European-specialist identity and its quiet, under-the-radar operating philosophy.