August was defined by curiosity at the edges. We looked beyond the comfort zone of durable yield and defensive income into places where innovation collides with infrastructure, where hype meets reality, and where optionality is underpriced.

It was a month of balance: leaning outward into new industries like satellites and space-based connectivity, while grounding inward in energy, utilities, and resilient real assets. We didn’t abandon our discipline; we applied it to themes that others might treat as pure speculation. For us, the test was always the same: is this durable? Is it misunderstood? Is the asymmetry worth the volatility?

Public Markets

In public equities, our attention turned toward telecommunications, satellites, and digital infrastructure. The promise of space-based internet is enormous, but our focus was contrarian: rather than chase operators, we studied the picks-and-shovels suppliers. Component manufacturers, materials providers, and ground station operators may represent the most durable exposure to this theme.

We also evaluated special situations in energy and utilities. Some businesses remain priced as if calamity will define them forever. We debated whether these “flatlined” equities — post-litigation, post-regulation, post-crisis — may represent time arbitrage opportunities. The question wasn’t just whether they survive, but whether they can return to normalized earnings while the market has stopped paying attention.

Volatility did not scare us here; in fact, it was our compass. We asked whether price swings were a sign of structural risk or merely misunderstood narratives. That distinction drove our analysis.

Private Markets & Funds

August was also active in private markets. We engaged managers across AI, robotics, and industrial reshoring — sectors aligned with long-term tailwinds but requiring careful scrutiny.

We assessed multiple structures:

• SPVs that provide single-asset exposure but with liquidity trade-offs.

• Fund-of-funds that diversify risk but can stack fees and blur alignment.

• Direct venture funds spanning from pre-seed through growth equity.

Our evaluation was less about the industries themselves and more about the structures: Are managers aligned? Are fees justified by edge? Is governance transparent? The contrarian view here was that in venture, structure often matters more than story. We would rather back a mediocre theme in a well-structured fund than a hot theme in a poorly aligned one.

This lens kept us disciplined as we weighed robotics, AI-driven automation, and reshoring strategies.

Real Assets

One theme returned again and again in August: energy demand is systematically underestimated.

With AI, data centers, and electrification accelerating, power grids are quietly straining. The market narrative emphasizes “renewable transitions” and “green growth,” but misses the brute fact: demand is rising faster than infrastructure can be built.

This mismatch reinforces our conviction in energy-linked infrastructure, royalty models, and leasing arrangements. Whether pipelines, utilities, or transmission rights, ownership of the rails behind the digital economy is a compounding asset class. Narratives come and go, but electrons need wires, and servers need power.

We believe this dislocation — the underpricing of power demand — will define the next decade as much as AI itself.

Process & Structure

Internally, August was a month of building pipelines — not of assets, but of managers. Our autonomous executives advanced work on investment manager sourcing, cataloging differentiated thinkers across geographies, asset classes, and fund structures.

This sourcing work matters as much as the investments themselves. By institutionalizing how we find, evaluate, and track managers, we avoid the trap of chasing introductions or hype-driven allocations. Instead, we are constructing a repeatable funnel of contrarian managers whose strategies align with our philosophy of capital preservation and asymmetric upside.

We also reinforced our process for public market tracking. Every stock, theme, or catalyst discussed flows into standardized reports, ensuring that curiosity does not dissipate but compounds as intellectual capital.

Looking Ahead

As we exited August, three convictions framed our next steps:

• Innovation at the edge → Satellites, connectivity, and infrastructure are themes worth curiosity, but must be approached through suppliers and structures.

• Energy’s hidden importance → Power demand is systematically underestimated, making royalties and infrastructure critical long-term exposures.

• Partnership discipline → Funds and managers must be evaluated on alignment and governance first, not just narrative.

August reminded us that optionality is valuable — but only if paired with structure