Deep fundamental conviction combined with entrepreneurial activism

On Wednesday, 27 May 2026, I had the pleasure of being invited by Volker Varnholt of MRB Fund Partners AG for a coffee at their impressive offices between Paradeplatz and Lake Zurich.

The meeting offered a valuable opportunity to discuss activist investing with Till Hufnagel of SPUR Value Partners AG. We also touched on his extensive career at Goldman Sachs in London, where he served as a Managing Director in the private equity business.

Mr. Hufnagel is a highly accomplished professional, combining a personable and approachable style with clear determination and discipline. It is immediately evident that he possesses strong drive and focus. The strategy’s performance is excellent and reflects both his capabilities and those of his team. Thomas J. Caduff, CEO, Fundplat LLC

• Caduff: Mr. Hufnagel, how exactly do you define your activist mandate at SPUR Value Partners?

Hufnagel: We aim to generate double-digit net returns for our investors through a long-only and long-term approach in European midcaps. In most cases, therefore, our investment thesis requires operational improvements, both to drive earnings growth and to reduce the valuation discount that our targets typically carry – and this is where we see our activist focus. Our engagement is always substantiated by facts and – hopefully – well-founded arguments, and is constructive wherever possible. As minority shareholders we typically hold positions of 1–5%, which keeps the strategy liquid.

• Caduff: How can you have an impact with such small holdings?

Constructive engagement is our preferred approach, but where agreement cannot be reached, we are prepared to escalate. Till Hufnagel

Hufnagel: On the one hand, constructive engagement that aligns interests. We actively highlight performance gaps to the key stakeholders, and we seek to contribute to closing them, be it through sharing our analysis in regular dialogue with management and the board, or by engaging our network and head-hunters to identify relevant talent. On the other hand, where we cannot reach agreement, we are prepared to escalate. Beyond public letters, we have extensive experience with proxy fights and other legal measures. As a team we have led more than 50 activist campaigns, most of which became public at some point – particularly in the early years (2015–2021). Since 2021/22, however, we have seen a clear trend toward resolving matters behind closed doors – in part a vindication of this approach.

• Caduff: What kind of companies do you invest in?

Hufnagel: Since we run a highly concentrated portfolio of typically only 10–12 positions and stay invested for three to five years on average, we make only one to three new investments per year. That in turn allows us to be highly selective and spend a great deal of time and resources on due diligence; we very often draw on external support from our network, consultants and experts. The depth of the diligence process therefore allows us to be flexible in the type of company we can look at, rather than us specialising in a specific type of company. That said, understandable business model and market structure, and intrinsic value not yet reflected in the share price are extremely important characteristics in a target; we believe that our discipline in identifying these is one of the reasons we have not realised a loss on a core investment since the strategy was launched in 2015.