Portolan Capital Management, LLC (hereinafter “Portolan”) is an SEC-registered investment
adviser located in Boston, Massachusetts and was founded in November 2004 by George McCabe,
the Chief Investment Officer and portfolio manager. George McCabe is the principal owner of
Portolan.
Portolan exercises discretionary authority in providing portfolio management services to (i) private
investment funds (the “Private Funds”), (ii) Portolan Equity UCITS Fund, an Irish registered
UCITS (Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) fund (the “UCITS
Fund”), (iii) clients (the “Separate Account Clients”) with separately managed accounts (“Separate
Accounts”) and (iv) a registered investment company (“Sub-Advised Client”) as a sub-adviser.
The Private Funds, the UCITS Fund, Separate Account Clients and Sub-Advised Client are
collectively referred to herein as “Clients”.
The Private Funds offer limited partnership interests (the “Interests”) to certain qualified investors
(the “Investors”), as described in Item 7 below.
Portolan’s services consist primarily of identifying and evaluating investment opportunities,
making investments, managing and monitoring investments, and disposing of investments.
Portolan’s portfolio management focus is on seeking long-term capital appreciation from a group
of global equity investments, although certain strategies may engage in leverage as described
below.
The investment strategies for the accounts managed by Portolan are as follows:
Portolan Equity Fund, LP and Portolan Equity Offshore Fund, Ltd.
Portolan Equity Fund, LP (the “Equity Fund”), a Delaware limited partnership, and Portolan
Equity Offshore Fund, Ltd. (the “Equity Offshore Fund”), a Cayman Islands exempted company,
are managed by Portolan. The Equity Offshore Fund operates as a “feeder” company to the Equity
Fund and seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing substantially all of its assets in
the Equity Fund. Interests in the Equity Offshore Fund are offered only to U.S. tax-exempt
investors and investors who are not U.S. persons.
The Equity Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation from a portfolio of primarily
equity investments. The Equity Fund invests in a relatively large number of common stocks of
companies across multiple industries and generally favors smaller capitalization stocks, but invests
in a range of companies from micro-capitalization to large-capitalization, based on company
fundamentals and expects to be opportunistic in its investment selection. The Equity Fund makes
both “growth” and “value” oriented investments in companies that Portolan believes to be
attractive businesses with favorable valuations, based on its analysis of company fundamentals.
The Equity Fund portfolio generally contains between 50 and 100 holdings with individual
positions generally not exceeding 5% of the total portfolio at the time of investment; however,
Portolan may, in its sole discretion, cause the Equity Fund to hold fewer than 50 holdings or greater
than 100 holdings if it deems it to be in the best interest of the Equity Fund. Portolan may, from
time to time, invest greater than 5% of the Equity Fund’s total portfolio in a single security where
it deems there to be an opportunity for investment return that merits a greater concentration in a
position. The Equity Fund’s investment in any company, including a company with a small
capitalization, may represent any proportion of such company’s capitalization, as determined by
Portolan in its sole discretion. Portolan also reserves the right to invest in money market
instruments and to hold cash if it deems such investments to be in the best interest of the Equity
Fund. In some cases, Portolan also may invest to a limited extent, from time to time, in options
on securities, and securities bearing a fixed, variable, or floating rate of interest.
Investors in the Equity Fund or the Equity Offshore Fund may not impose restrictions on investing
in certain securities or types of securities.
Portolan Select Fund, LP
Portolan Select Fund, LP (the “Select Fund”), a Delaware limited partnership, is managed by
Portolan.
The Select Fund seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation from a concentrated portfolio
consisting primarily of equity investments. The Select Fund invests in common stocks of
companies across multiple industries but will not seek broad diversification. The Select Fund
generally favors smaller capitalization stocks, but expects to invest in a range of companies from
micro-capitalization to large-capitalization, based on company fundamentals and expects to be
opportunistic in its investment selection. The Select Fund makes both “growth” and “value”
oriented investments in companies that Portolan believes to be attractive business with favorable
valuations.
The Select Fund portfolio generally
contains between 20 and 50 holdings with individual positions
generally not exceeding 10% of the total portfolio at the time of investment; however, Portolan
may, in its sole discretion, cause the Select Fund to hold fewer than 20 holdings or greater than 50
holdings if it deems it to be in the best interest of the Select Fund. Portolan may, from time to
time, invest greater than 10% of the Select Fund’s total portfolio in a single security where it deems
there to be an opportunity for investment return that merits a greater concentration in a position.
The Select Fund’s investment in any company, including a company with a small capitalization,
may represent any proportion of such company’s capitalization, as determined by Portolan in its
sole discretion. Portolan also reserves the right to invest in money market instruments and to hold
cash uninvested if it deems such investments to be in the best interest of the Select Fund. In some
cases, Portolan also may invest to a limited extent, from time to time, in options on securities, and
securities bearing a fixed, variable, or floating rate of interest.
Select Fund holdings are typically also holdings in the Equity Fund. The investment horizon for
holdings in the Select Fund is expected to be generally longer than those in the Equity Fund.
Investors in the Select Fund may not impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types
of securities.
Separate Accounts
Portolan generally requires a minimum investment of $20,000,000 to manage a Separate Account.
Portolan may, in its sole discretion, waive or reduce this minimum and may also elect not to take
on additional Separate Accounts. Separate Account Client agreements will include investment
objectives and restrictions that may vary and may restrict the use of certain strategies or techniques
(such as restricting or prohibiting the use of derivatives, participation in IPOs and prohibiting
borrowing to leverage the portfolio).
With respect to Separate Accounts, Portolan generally seeks to achieve long-term capital
appreciation primarily from a portfolio of equity investments subject to the applicable agreement
with the Client which may impose specific objectives and restrictions. Portolan generally favors
smaller capitalization stocks, but invests the assets of the Separate Accounts in companies of all
market capitalizations, ranging from micro-capitalization to large-capitalization companies, based
on company fundamentals and expects to be opportunistic in its investment selection. Portolan
generally invests the assets of Separate Accounts in common stocks across multiple industries and
will make both “growth” and “value” oriented investments in companies that it believes to be
attractive businesses with favorable valuations. There may be periods where an account’s assets
are not fully invested if Portolan does not view individual company valuations as favorable. During
such periods, such account’s assets may be retained in cash or short-term investments in Portolan’s
sole discretion. In some cases, Portolan may also invest to a limited extent, from time to time, in
options on securities, options on indexes, and securities bearing a fixed, variable, or floating rate
of interest.
Portolan participates in Fidelity’s Separate Account Network® program. Through this program,
Portolan provides advisory services through Fidelity as the broker-dealer custodian.
Portolan Equity UCITS Fund
Portolan provides investment management services to the UCITS Fund in accordance with the
UCITS Fund’s investment objective and policies as stated in the UCITS Fund’s prospectus and
supplement, as filed with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). The Portolan Equity UCITS Fund is
a sub-fund of the Portolan Funds ICAV, an umbrella Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle
with segregated liability between sub-funds registered in Ireland under the Irish Collective Asset-
management Vehicles Act, 2015. Shares in the UCITS Fund are offered only to investors who are
not U.S. persons.
UCITS Fund investors may not impose restrictions on investing in certain securities or types of
securities.
Sub-Advised Client
Portolan provides a program of continuous investment management in accordance with the Sub-
Advised Client’s investment objective and policies as stated in the Sub-Advised Client’s
investment management agreement, prospectus and statement of additional information as filed
with the SEC on Form N-1A.
Assets Under Management
As of December 31, 2023, Portolan had net assets under management of $1.22 billion, all of which
are on a discretionary basis, and of which $304.2 million relates to the net assets of the Private
Funds, $187.4 million relates to the net assets of the Separate Accounts, $117.5 million relates to
the net assets of the UCITS Fund, and $608.9 million relates to the net assets of the Sub-Advised
Client account.