Hettie stands at a wooden farm gate at the top of a green valley with neat rows of carrot tops below and rolling hills beyond

Hettie Asks First

A story about due diligence

FundOpsHQ

Hettie sits in a cosy armchair hugging a big closed picture book with a plain blank cover

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Hettie alone stands at a wooden farm gate looking over rows of carrot tops in a green valley at sunset

For three generations, the hare family grew carrots in the valley. When they sold the farm, they wanted their savings to last the family a long, long time.

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Hettie sits at a tidy wooden desk in a small cottage office with plain bare walls

So the family set up a family office: a small team that looks after one family's money. Hettie ran it.

2

A tall grey crane with a red feathered crown and a navy waistcoat stands in the open doorway of the small cottage office holding a plain briefcase

One day, Corin the crane came to see her. He ran a fund that bought small clinics and helped them grow. "Would your family like to invest?" he asked.

3

Hettie hands a closed plain folder across her desk to the tall grey crane in a navy waistcoat

"Perhaps," said Hettie. "But first, I have some questions." Asking careful questions before you invest is called due diligence, and Hettie had a long list.

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Hettie shakes hands with a friendly young red deer in a green jumper in a bright room with plain bare walls and a big window

First, she met Corin's whole team, not just Corin. Who would choose the clinics? Who would help them grow? And would they all stay?

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Next she asked for Corin's track record: what his earlier funds bought, sold and paid back. Most clinics did well, and he showed her the one that did not.

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

Then she called animals who had invested with Corin before. "When something goes wrong," she asked, "does he tell you early?" "Always," they said.

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Hettie and a white goose in a pale blue tunic walk through a bright clean clinic room with plain bare walls and a big window full of plants

She visited a clinic that Corin's last fund still owned. The goose who ran it showed her the new rooms, and told her what had changed since the fund came.

8

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

Then Hettie read the fund's agreement, page by page, with the family's lawyer. How big were the fees? How long was the money tied up? What if Corin left?

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Hettie with her ears raised in surprise sits at her desk

One answer worried her. Corin's new fund was twice as big as his last one. Could his team find twice as many good clinics?

10

The tall grey crane in a navy waistcoat and Hettie walk slowly together along a garden path between hedges on a bright morning

Corin did not hurry her. He introduced his two new partners, and Hettie called where they had worked before. "I would rather you asked now," he said.

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After many weeks Hettie said yes. She promised a little less than planned and put the rest in other funds, so the savings were never all in one place.

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Hettie tucks one very small sleepy young hare into a little bed by lamplight in a cosy cottage room with plain bare walls

That night her young nephew Kit asked why she had asked so many questions. "This money has to look after hares we have not met yet," said Hettie.

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Hettie asleep in a cosy armchair by lamplight in a little cottage

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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