Asilo is a single strategy manager, which means all energy and focus is dedicated to one single portfolio: Asilo Argo. The portfolio is concentrated in only 10–15 global stocks, deviating from the norm of diversification. Such focus inevitably brings greater volatility and places higher psychological demands on the investment team. One way they handle this pressure is by knowing their portfolio companies better than the average manager. Not because they consider themselves smarter, but because they have more resources available per position due to the extremely concentrated portfolio.

When the team is asked how they handle volatile times, Ernst Grönblom, one of the portfolio managers and the originator of the strategy, shares that yoga and meditation, which he has practiced for over 30 years, help him mentally distance himself from market chaos. “It helps to keep a cool head when prices go down while the fundamentals continue to point upwards,” Ernst adds. Long experience in portfolio management helps too. Henri Blomster, the other part of the portfolio management duo, points out that it is easier to identify winners when the market is doing poorly and vice versa when the market is strong: “If we are on a boat and the water is high, it’s harder to see the rocks.”

At the core of Asilo’s strategy is a search for markets where a single company can emerge as the clear winner. Rather than spreading bets across an industry, the team focuses on identifying which player has the best chance of taking control of the market and shaping its future. When conviction is strong enough, that company earns a place in the portfolio. Much of this work centers on leading businesses in disruptive industries, companies capable of creating entirely new growth curves, much like Amazon did when AWS became a business of its own.

Unlike other market actors, Asilo does not trim its portfolio as often, instead they focus their activity on knowing their portfolio companies significantly better than competitors and keep them under close monitoring. The strategy is also based on a long-term investment horizon. Ernst describes the strategy with a sports metaphor: “If the gold medal is worth the same in every discipline, we want to compete in the one with the fewest competitors. The competition is much tougher on a 12-month horizon, Asilo wants to compete in curling, not a 100-meter sprint.” In other words, the competition to be the best in a single year is much tougher than delivering strong returns over longer periods.

Their strategy has long been considered odd. In the 2000s, for over ten years, Ernst tried to pitch the strategy to various fund managers without much success. Most thought Ernst’s idea was crazy, and the few who listened saw the strategy as sensible but difficult to sell. Today, more people are starting to understand the idea.

When the team is asked whether they see themselves as innovative, Ernst responds with these words: “If the innovation meter is a stamp on how crazy the world thinks you seem, then Asilo’s approach is truly innovative.” Ernst, Henri, and Casper Grönblom, CEO of Asilo, also point out that it is not enough to just stand out from the crowd for something to count as innovative. The decisive factor is that innovation also leads to something truly positive. Asilo’s way of working is also based on innovation. They approach problems from Charlie Mungers latticework of mental models’ framework, which is about looking at things from multiple dimensions. By analyzing problems from several different perspectives, the chance of finding innovative and effective solutions increases. “It’s like taking two completely different chemical substances and letting them combine into something better,” explains Henri.

Since the goal is to generate alpha, the team sees the courage to stand out from the crowd as one of their most important traits. “Our investment strategy requires us to dare to be different and to trust ourselves. You can be seen as an oddity, as a freak, but that’s one of our greatest strengths,” Ernst emphasizes. “Alpha is a deviation. To create deviation, you must be able to work and think in a deviating way,” Henri adds.

The team consists of four humorous freethinkers driven by curiosity and intellectual stimulation. During the interview, they not only share infectious laughter but also present thoughtful insights and sharp analyses. The conversation is characterized by their ability to build on each other's reasoning and add their own reflections from their different experiences, giving the discussion both depth and breadth.

One of Asilo’s absolute greatest strengths is the team’s varied ways of thinking and their skill in tackling challenges from many different angles. This intellectual breadth is rooted in the members’ multifaceted backgrounds from law and cell biology to economics, pedagogy, and sailing. The team gathered experience from large corporations, small companies, and life as entrepreneurs before the journey with Asilo began. It is precisely this mix of perspectives that forms the basis of Asilo’s working method: approaching problems through a network of different mental models, inspired by the latticework framework. This allows them to tackle issues from multiple directions until they find the most effective solutions.

A key part of Asilo’s working method is that responsibility is shared equally among everyone in the team. They have adopted Frederic Laloux’s ideas about teal organizations, where each member has the mandate and responsibility to act independently. This trust in each other means decisions can be made quickly and the course can be changed immediately if something unexpected happens. Monica Björkstén, CFO at Asilo, and Casper point out that when the group consists of only four people, it is crucial that everyone fully trusts each other and that very trust is one of the foundations for their model to work.

Despite responsibility being equally distributed in the team, everyone has clearly defined roles, much like the crew on a sailboat. “The sailing metaphor, that we are all in the same boat and moving toward a common goal, is overused, but it persists for a reason,” says Casper. Monica and Casper stay away from portfolio management, which Ernst and Henri are responsible for, and vice versa. “It’s no coincidence that many of the world’s top entrepreneurs, industrial and business leaders have been avid sailors like Larry Ellison and Ted Turner. There is an overlap in the way of thinking,” the Grönblom brothers add. For them, the team is a tightly knit unit that must be skillfully steered, and at the same time, competition is constantly present out on the open sea.

Everyone in the team is an entrepreneur to their core, with experience from different types of businesses and large organizations. Now that they run their own company, they have the freedom to make decisions themselves and steer the direction of the business. Being a small group of four people means they can act quickly and together realize a joint project, where the joy of both successes and setbacks is shared. “When someone in the team succeeds, it doesn’t take anything away from anyone else; everyone shares in each other’s successes,” is the team’s shared view.

For a strategy built on independence and long-term conviction, the choice of partner matters. When the Asilo Argo fund moved to GRIT, the goal was not to change how the team works, but to protect it. “With GRIT as a partner, we are not tied to anyone else. We can fully concentrate on portfolio management and the commercial side,” says Casper. “GRIT enables us, to a much greater extent than anyone else, to independently build our own brand,” Ernst adds.

Everyday work is also something that drives the team. Ernst experiences extreme enjoyment from the actual investment work and believes his job is the closest he has come to applied philosophy. The feedback from the hypotheses the team builds about reality is experienced as intellectually very stimulating: “When your hypothesis has been good, you’ve generated alpha, and when it has been bad, the alpha is negative. This direct feedback is very stimulating.” The daily work is filled with constant learning, strategic thinking, and rapid tactical decisions, something the whole team really enjoys. Monica sums it up well: “There is no standard day; every day looks completely different.”

Along the way, the team has realized that genuine drive and commitment in each member, as well as in the group, is crucial to achieving success. Surrounding yourself with people who are genuinely motivated and purposeful increases the chances of really good results much more than just gathering the most talented people. It is the will to fight together that makes the difference, not just intelligence.

Knowing your own weaknesses is also a great strength. “Being aware of your own limitations and discussing without the goal of winning the discussion is extremely valuable,” Henri thinks. He believes the goal in discussions should instead be to understand why someone sees things the way they do. This attitude towards discussions also helps to better understand the whole picture. Ernst points out that the very purpose of organizations is that we humans reach our full potential when we collaborate and take advantage of each other’s experiences and knowledge. “The main reason organizations exist is because you have to combine competencies.” By building on each other’s strengths, you can achieve much more than you could have on your own. Casper adds that personal chemistry is also crucial for an organization to do well.

Asilo stands out by sending book recommendations to the fund’s investors every month. The books are those that Ernst and Henri have read and recommend. For 2026, the recommended book is Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux

The team emphasizes that companies with the ability to quickly adapt and adjust will stay ahead when AI and other disruptive forces change working life. Instead of traditional top-down management, the teal organization framework is based on responsibility and decision-making power being distributed to all employees, which requires strong trust and respect within the organization. This very trustful corporate culture is something Asilo places great importance on investigating, as it is crucial for a company’s ability to effectively meet and manage change.

"The economy has never changed as quickly as it does now. The ability to quickly change course and react to changes is more important than ever. Flexible and responsive companies have a clear advantage, provided that most employees are smart, honest, and ambitious,” the team emphasizes.

This is marketing communication produced by GRIT Fund Management Company Ltd. The information given herein is not sufficient to make an investment decision. Read the prospectus and the key information document (KID) of the fund before making any final investment decisions. The value of an investment may rise or fall, and investors may lose part or all of the capital invested.