Welcome to the Q4 2025 issue of Hidden Value Stocks from Hedge Fund Alpha (formerly ValueWalk Premium), a quarterly publication devoted to in-depth profile of top under-the-radar emerging fund managers and their two favorite small cap stocks (four stocks in total).
This edition features Alessandro Felisi of the Primoat Global Equity Strategy and Thomas Götsch of Hoop Capital. Felisi selected a US small cap growing rapidly and a Korean small-cap, seeing 20% upside for the former in the medium term and more than 100% upside for the latter from current levels.
Götsch featured a small-cap Italian stock and an Italian materials company with roughly a $500M market cap. He’s set a target price of at least double for both equity ideas.
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Meet Alessandro Felisi of the Primoat Global Equity Strategy
Alessandro Felisi is the founder and director of Kotai Consulting, which oversees the Primoat Global Equity Strategy. While Felisi is of Italian descent, he grew up in a small town in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland called Lugano.
Following high school, he moved a lot for both university and work. Regularly moving between countries helped keep Felisi open minded and adaptable to different perspectives and cultures.
Although Felisi began looking at the markets at age 16, he thinks the first stock he bought was D.R. Horton when he was 22.
“At the time, it was more trading than investing,” he added. “I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
Going into asset management
He started his career in 2012 at a London family office called ACPI, where he spent about two years. When he left ACPI, he co-founded a startup focused on loans and invoice financing for small businesses in Germany and Italy.
Felisi’s weekends were free during those years, so he also supported another German startup during that time. The first startup was acquired about five years later, and he still owns shares in the second one.
In 2019, Felisi decided to focus on investing entirely in listed companies, starting with his own money. Later, he was approached by third-party investors. He decided to start an equity strategy for a few reasons.
“I thought dealing with startups and businesses provided an advantage over being a stock analyst,” Felisi said. “Secondly, I find the stock market as a level playing field; I find it more stimulating. Thirdly, I love choosing and comparing options.
I do that already with way so many items. Why not include listed companies too?”
The strategy
Primoat’s strategy is simple: Felisi buys businesses he believes are superior to others, being mindful of the price and planning to hold the shares forever or until he finds a better opportunity.
When building the Primoat strategy, his first priority is to construct a framework for choosing companies. Felisi doesn’t focus on “fancy tools” or external screening platforms. Instead, he feels that having his own robust process that’s designed to last over the long term is what matters. Over the years, his investing style has evolved slightly.
“Our overall framework has remained consistent,” Felisi explained. “We would still buy most of the companies bought five years ago, but in hindsight, we would have been more mindful on price. The quality framework remained, but the attention to price has become more stringent from about two years ago.”
Meet Thomas Götsch of Hoop Capital
Thomas Götsch is an associate at Hoop Capital, a Milan-based, research-driven investment firm that focuses on European small and mid caps. Before Hoop, he worked at a small-cap fund based in Luxembourg, picking up some firsthand experience in deep fundamental investing.
A curious investor
Growing up in Munich, which he described as “a vibrant and international city,” Götsch said he learned the importance of curiosity, asking questions and staying open minded. He believes those traits impact how he approaches life and work today.
Götsch has long been driven by curiosity, which led him to pursue fund management and meet the colleagues he now works with. They introduced him to proactive investing.
“We decided not to just invest when everything looks perfect, but to dig deeper into situations that may appear challenging from the outside and ask, ‘Is there something real and undervalued here?’ Götsch said. “That mindset, paired with the right team at the right time, was the catalyst for building Hoop.”
Hoop Club’s strategy
Operating a concentrated, research-driven, long-biased strategy, Hoop Club focuses on valuation mismatches resulting from overlooked assets, weak market reputations, new projects with untapped potential, or companies with a stagnated strategy or governance situation.
“Our edge is a forensic research process, combining deep fundamental work with active engagement,” Götsch explained. “We structure each investment through a dedicated vehicle, keeping us flexible and aligned with shareholders. Rather than diversifying broadly, we commit to a few high-conviction positions where we can help unlock value by improving governance, strategy and market perception.”
Building the strategy
When shaping the Hoop Club strategy, the team prioritizes flexibility, concentration and governance. Götsch said their deal-by-deal structure with dedicated vehicles enables them to avoid the rigid timelines of private equity funds while acting as engaged owners in the public markets. Hoop focuses on a few positions where the team can fully commit resources and drive outcomes.
Using a diagnostic approach, Hoop Club spends a lot of time constructing a complete picture before investing, including business fundamentals, governance, market perception and the key people.
“Knowing that a stock is undervalued is not enough,” Götsch added. “We need to understand why and what can be done to close that gap. Only when these factors align with a clear thesis on how value can be unlocked do we take a position, and the way we act depends on the specifics of each case.”
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