Small Cap Investing for Family Offices
Scalable. High conviction. Focused on downside protection.
West Bay Partners is an independent global small cap investment firm built with a strong focus on family offices, high-net-worth investors, and other long-term capital partners. Led by Erik Esselink and Glen Hilton, the firm invests globally in listed smaller companies where detailed fundamental research can still create an edge.
We operate through the Andbank Luxembourg UCITS-SICAV platform, supported by Goldman Sachs International, Capricorn Fund Managers, Quintet Private Bank, and Deloitte Audit.
"Family Offices are the natural owners of listed small cap equities."
Our Vision
Invest where deep research still has an edge
Small cap investing is one of the few areas of public markets where deep company-level research can still make a meaningful difference. Many listed smaller companies receive limited analyst coverage, attract less institutional attention, and are often less well understood by the market.
West Bay Partners was established to invest in this segment of the market with scale, conviction, and a strong focus on downside protection. The team believes there are often real "riches in the niches," with some of the most compelling opportunities found in overlooked areas of the small cap universe. By combining structured and unstructured idea generation, West Bay Partners maintains a constant flow of new investment ideas across a vast global opportunity set. AI and advanced technology tools support the research process, helping the team analyze companies efficiently and uncover opportunities that may otherwise go unnoticed.
As assets grow, small cap managers must think carefully about liquidity, trading impact, position sizing, and capacity. With operations in London, Madrid, and Atlanta, the team invests only in companies it can analyse in depth across regions, industries, and market cycles.
Our Investment Edge
What sets West Bay apart
Scalability
Small cap investing is a capacity-constrained asset class. Erik Esselink's experience managing several billion dollars across small cap strategies informs West Bay's approach to liquidity, portfolio implementation, and capacity management.
High Conviction
West Bay invests in a focused portfolio of companies that have been researched in depth. The strategy favours selectivity, deep fundamental work, and conviction over broad exposure to the small cap universe.
Downside Protection
Risk management is built into the investment process through valuation discipline, liquidity analysis, position sizing, and portfolio construction. The goal is to compound capital responsibly over time, not simply maximise upside.
Institutional Infrastructure
The fund operates through the Andbank Luxembourg UCITS-SICAV platform and is supported by Goldman Sachs International, Capricorn Fund Managers, Quintet Private Bank, and Deloitte. West Bay combines boutique focus with institutional operating support.
Our Strategy
Why small caps? And why family offices?
Small caps stay lightly covered by analysts and under-owned by institutions, and that gap is where patient, fundamental investors find quality the market has mispriced.
Family offices hold a natural advantage here. They invest with patience, think like owners, and can act when others step back. Many small cap companies are founder-led or family-influenced, the kind of long-horizon businesses family offices understand from the inside.
West Bay Partners was built to capture this opportunity at scale without compromising the advantages of small-cap investing: a concentrated portfolio of high-conviction ideas, thoughtful position sizing that balances upside and downside risk, a broad set of portfolio risk management tools, and disciplined capacity management designed to preserve the strategy's competitive edge as it grows.
Fund overview
A UCITS-SICAV is a Luxembourg-regulated fund structure with independent oversight, an appointed depositary, and annual third-party audit requirements. It is a widely used European fund structure for professional and institutional investors.
Andbank Luxembourg
Goldman Sachs International
Capricorn Fund Managers
Quintet
Private Bank
Deloitte
Audit
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Built with family offices, and run the same way
Our Team
Deep experience, long-term perspective
Led by Erik Esselink and Glen Hilton, the investment team brings more than 55 years of combined experience at leading global investment firms. Erik leads portfolio management and investment decisions. Glen leads research quality, process discipline, and analytical challenge. Together, they combine deep fundamental research with thoughtful decision-making and disciplined portfolio management to deliver a repeatable investment process.
The team is senior and deliberately focused. Technology and AI-assisted tools help review a broad global universe, while non-investment functions are supported by specialist external partners. This allows the investment team to focus on research, debate, portfolio construction, and risk management.
Erik Esselink - Managing Partner, CIO & Portfolio Manager
Erik Esselink is the Founder, Managing Partner, CIO, and Portfolio Manager of West Bay Partners. He started his career at ING in Amsterdam in the late 1990s, moved to London in 2000, and specialised in small cap equity at Morgan Stanley before joining Invesco, where he spent 15 years working across European and global small cap strategies.
At Invesco, Erik managed small cap capital at significant scale, including European, Developed Market, and Global Small Cap strategies. This experience informs West Bay’s approach to scalability, liquidity, position sizing, and downside protection.
In 2023, Erik took a sabbatical to consider how and for whom global small cap equity should be managed. He founded West Bay Partners in January 2025 with Glen Hilton.
Glen Hilton - Managing Partner, Director of Research
Glen Hilton is Managing Partner and Director of Research at West Bay Partners. He brings 30 years of experience in global equities at a number of leading investment firms, including Montgomery Asset Management, Invesco, and Thornburg.
Throughout his career, Glen managed portfolios and worked as sector and industry analyst, building research infrastructure and helping define investment processes that underpinned successful investment teams. He left Thornburg in 2024 to co-found West Bay Partners with Erik Esselink. At West Bay Partners, Glen leads research quality, process discipline, and analytical challenge across the investment team.
Matthew Dyer - Investment Analyst
Matt has over 25 years' experience in the financial Industry and started his career at Citibank. He worked in several roles in FX and FX e-solutions for Citibank in Sydney and London. In 2017 Matt moved to Equiniti as payments consultant and later joined Proxymity, another fast-growing fintech start-up.
Recently, Matt worked as a private investor focused on fintech, AI and technology. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Queensland University of Technology.
Jeremy Goodman - Non-Executive Chairman
Jeremy Goodman is the Non-Executive Chairman of West Bay Partners. He brings over 30 years of experience in capital markets, beginning his career in European equities at Hoare Govett before holding senior roles at Swiss Bank, HSBC James Capel, and Credit Agricole Cheuvreux, where he served as CEO and oversaw its merger with Kepler Capital Markets to create the largest equity brokerage firm in Europe. He is currently Managing Director of International Asset Management (IAM).
Brendan Hayes - CFO/COO
Brendan brings over 25 years of experience of experience across all non-investment functions within asset management, including fund structuring, operations, legal, compliance, finance, and investor relations. He has a strong track record of building and managing the operational infrastructure required to support institutional-quality fund platforms.
In 2022, he co-founded Alpha Labs Consulting, providing outsourced CFO/COO services to asset managers, family offices, and investment platforms, helping them establish robust, scalable, and investor-ready operating frameworks.
Juan Bascones - Risk Management
Juan has over 20 years of experience in asset management, specialising in portfolio construction and risk management, with expertise across market, credit, and operational risk. He has a strong track record of implementing risk frameworks that protect capital and support resilient, institutional-quality investment platforms.
He previously worked at JP Morgan in Ireland and ICR Institutional Investment Management as a fund analyst and portfolio manager. He serves as Independent Risk Manager for West Bay Partners, providing external oversight of portfolio construction and risk exposures.
Luis Saravia - Head of Business Development / Investor Relations
Luis Saravia leads business development and investor relations at West Bay Partners, with a focus on family offices and institutional allocators. He brings over ten years of experience across financial services in Madrid and London, covering consulting, private banking, and alternative investments.
He founded Napa Capital, a boutique advisory firm serving family offices, institutional investors, and entrepreneurs. Previously, Luis led Iberia and Latin America distribution at International Asset Management and held private banking roles at Bankinter and Deloitte.
Insights
A rare opportunity in global small caps
What if one of the most overlooked areas of public markets is also one of the most attractive? This paper explores why many quality small-cap businesses remain deeply undervalued and why a combination of technological, regulatory, and market changes could drive a meaningful re-rating in the years ahead.