The average market value of his investments is a mere 30 million. But Webb also argues that the key to his success, and the lack of volatility in the trust's performance, is 'our belief in a closer working relationship with the companies we own than many other institutions have. That is particularly true in the early stages of an investment'. Some of Eaglet's largest holdings, such as its 16 per cent stake in Linx Printing Technologies, have been held for as long as seven years. Property management group Hercules has been held for five years and Radstone, supplying computer chips for battlefield conditions, for four years.
Any fool can go out and overpay for a good company.
And of course any fool can diversify into mediocrity. At Artemis, where unit values with income reinvested have quadrupled since the launch in April 1998, the portfolio is also highly focused, but much more aggressively managed than the Eaglet equivalent. Dodd has just 50 stocks in the portfolio, but does not accept Eaglet's 50 million market cap constraint. Neither is there any stress on loyalty to the share invested in. There are built-in 'sell triggers' for every share and warnings against becoming overly attached to a particular company.