Bramble stands on a wooden quay beside a calm harbour with a half-built wooden fishing boat with a plain unpainted hull with no name or markings on a slipway behind her

Bramble and the Boatyard

A story about co-investing

FundOpsHQ

Bramble sits on a wooden bench hugging a soft round cushion to her chest with both arms

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Bramble sits at a tidy wooden desk by a big window looking out over a river

Bramble the wombat looked after the river teachers' savings, for the day they retired. Some of that money was in a private equity fund run by Magnus the moose.

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A tall calm moose with broad flat antlers and a navy coat stands in a bright plain room looking at a small brass balance scale with plain round weights

Magnus's fund bought good small companies and helped them grow. Like most funds, it had a rule: never put too much of the fund into any one company.

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The tall moose with broad flat antlers and a navy coat stands on a wooden quay looking at a big plain boatyard shed with no sign and two half-built wooden fishing boats with plain unpainted hulls with no names or markings on slipways

One day Magnus found a boatyard that built fishing boats and had more orders than it could fill. It was a fine business, but it cost more than his rule allowed.

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Bramble at her tidy desk holds the receiver of a plain round cream telephone with no dial to her ear

So Magnus asked a few of his investors: "Would you like to invest in this boatyard too, right beside the fund?" That is called a co-investment.

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Bramble sits at her desk looking thoughtfully at a big wooden hourglass with golden sand running through it

A co-investment usually comes with lower fees, or none at all. Bramble liked that. But there was a catch: she had only three weeks to decide.

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In the fund, the teachers' money was spread over many companies. Here, it would all be in one. If the boatyard did badly, there was nothing else to lean on.

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Bramble and the tall moose with broad flat antlers and a navy coat walk slowly together along a harbour wall on a bright morning

"If three weeks is too short, say no," said Magnus kindly. "There will be other chances, and I would rather you were sure."

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So Bramble did her own homework, quickly and carefully. She went to the boatyard and met Skerry, the sea otter who ran it.

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Bramble watches as the brown sea otter in yellow overalls points proudly at a row of three half-built wooden boats with plain unpainted hulls with no names or markings in a big plain wooden shed

"What if the fishing is poor one year?" she asked. Skerry showed her the boats already ordered. For each one, a fisher had paid part of the price up front.

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Bramble alone at her desk late at night by the light of a green lamp

She asked herself a harder question too: was this a deal the fund did not want? She checked that Magnus's own fund was putting in far more than she was.

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Bramble and the tall moose with broad flat antlers and a navy coat shake paw and hoof on the harbour wall in warm evening light

On the last day, Bramble said yes, but only for a small amount: no more than the teachers would be glad to have in a single company.

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The brown sea otter in yellow overalls and Bramble stand on a quay cheering as a new plain unpainted wooden fishing boat with no name on it slides down a slipway into the sea with a splash

With Magnus's help, Skerry built a bigger shed and hired more builders. Boat after boat slid down the slipway, and the boatyard grew.

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Bramble asleep with her eyes closed in a cosy armchair by lamplight

Years later, the boatyard was sold, and the teachers' share went back to them. With few fees to pay, more of the gain was theirs. That night, Bramble slept well.

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A note

The words in this book are real ones, explained simply. The animals and examples are made up, and real terms vary from fund to fund. It is not advice. The pictures were drawn with an AI image model and checked by hand.

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