HedgeNordic

When HedgeNordic spoke with Tommi Kemppainen in early 2019, the CEO of Helsinki Capital Partners outlined a defensive positioning for the multi-strategy fund HCP Black, warning of recession risks driven by excessive indebtedness and ultra-low interest rates. More than five years on, those views have paid off handsomely. HCP Black is on track for its best year since inception, advancing 17 percent year-to-date with one quarter still to go, as several positions rooted in those earlier convictions have come to fruition. From a statistical perspective, based on HCP Black’s historical volatility since its 2009 launch, the fund’s annual returns are typically expected to fall within a range of plus 15 percent to  minus 5 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval. “Looking at the history, there was one year at  minus 7 percent, which fell outside that range, and another year at around plus 14 percent,” says Kemppainen. “This year, we are heading toward plus 20 percent, not the most probable outcome, but certainly within the range of possibility.” “This year, we are heading toward plus 20 percent, not the most probable outcome, but certainly within the range of possibility.” This outcome, sitting at the upper bound of HCP Black’s historical return range, is not coincidental. It traces back to the strategic positioning HCP Black adopted several years ago in anticipation of a shift away from the era of zero interest rates. https://lnkd.in/dFWBfaFA

Borea Utbytte, a banking sector-focused equity fund under Norwegian boutique Borea Asset Management AS, celebrated its five-year anniversary at the turn of September to October. The long-only equity fund, which sits in the equity long-only (ELO) index near the Nordic Hedge Index, has achieved an annualized return of 28.4 percent over the past five years. No other fund or hedge fund in our database of around 150 funds and none of the 697 funds listed on Nordnet has matched its returns. “We are pleased with the results from the fund’s first five years,” says portfolio manager Magnus Vie Sundal, CFA. “We remain humble, acknowledging that some luck, a narrow mandate, and a favorable market have likely played their part.” Since its launch in October 2020, Borea Utbytte has delivered a cumulative return of 249 percent, corresponding to an annualized return of 28.4 percent. https://lnkd.in/dPU9M3fD

Tidan Fund, Tidan Capital’s hedge fund specialising in opportunities across corporate capital structures, marked its four-year anniversary in September with its strongest month on record: a 10.6 percent gain, nearly double its previous best monthly return. This lifted the fund’s year-to-date performance through September to 6.8 percent, following a strong 2024 when Tidan ranked among the region’s top-performing hedge funds with a return of 34 percent. On the surface, today’s credit environment with high-yield spreads near record lows might seem unfavourable for a strategy that earns part of its return from hedged credit carry. According to CIO Michael Falken and portfolio manager William Wilson, however, “while the broader credit market is priced to perfection, much like other areas of the capital markets, there remains a healthy degree of bifurcation within credit itself.” That dispersion drives corporate actions and balance-sheet adjustments that transfer value across the capital structure, sustaining a steady flow of opportunities. https://lnkd.in/dw3btbzG

After helping build and later steer the operations of fund boutique Norron, first as COO and then as CEO, Alexander Zetterquist is embarking on a new chapter as CEO of hedge fund boutique Antiloop Hedge. He is focusing on strengthening the firm’s operational backbone – systems, portfolio management, and connectivity – as well as setting the firm’s strategic path for the coming years. As Zetterquist lays the foundation for Antiloop’s next phase, Anna Svahn and Lynx co-founder Martin Sandquist continue to manage their respective strategies – Cygnus and Atlas – through separately managed account (SMA) structures. Svahn manages her commodity-focused tactical asset allocation strategy, Cygnus, while Sandquist oversees his multi-asset, multi-strategy approach, Atlas. Although they run their strategies independently, the duo operates as a cohesive team, sharing their combined experience and investment insights across both approaches. “The macro thesis is the clearest example of how we function as a team across our strategies,” says Svahn. The team’s top-down macro view has paid off this year, with Cygnus gaining 18.3 percent year-to-date through the end of September, while the lower-risk Atlas strategy rose 2.5 percent. “It has been a very interesting year in many ways. We’ve been completely right on the macro front and in how precious metals and commodities have played out,” says Sandquist. “The firm’s macro review has been very spot on, and we’re very happy with that.” https://lnkd.in/dnktEVn7

Credit spreads across the United States and Europe have tightened to low levels, leaving limited reward for simply holding long credit positions. This environment makes relative-value trades, cross-market opportunities, and other active strategies increasingly important. While tight spreads reduce the attractiveness of directional beta, Findlay Franklin, Portfolio Manager on RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s Multi-Asset Credit team, sees “pretty great dispersion at the underlying level,” creating fertile ground for skilled fixed-income managers. At RBC BlueBay, Franklin and the team deconstruct indices to uncover opportunities hidden behind aggregate spread levels. “Your headline index might read 275, for example, but if you plot the distribution of individual bonds and their respective yield or spread buckets, you get a clear view of where the real opportunities lie,” he explains. Currently, he sees a broad range of potential trades. “For a multi-asset strategy that can go long, short, and move across the spectrum, the opportunity set is quite compelling.” https://lnkd.in/dzU5T73P

More than 200 practitioners, academics and thought leaders met in Copenhagen for the second European Alternative Investments Conference, hosted by Finansforeningen/CFA Society Denmark and the CAIA Association. The day felt like the centre of Europe’s alternatives community, with a steady flow of practical insights across defence, private markets, hedge funds and climate economics. HedgeNordic was pleased to take part in a very well organised event, nicely giving insights into timely and timeless topics in the alternative investment space and plenty opportunity for some honest, old school networking and relationship building. Great to have this event on the schedule and we are much looking forward to be joining again next year. https://lnkd.in/dKDRz5Ej

Having managed the opportunistic hedge fund Pensum Global Opportunities under the Pensum Asset Management umbrella since 2022, Sector co-founder J Peter Andersland has now established a new management company, Coda Partners AS, and will rename the fund Coda Global Opportunities starting in November. What better way to mark this transition than with a record-setting month in September? With a track record approaching four years, Andersland and Pensum Global Opportunities are no strangers to roller-coaster returns. After gaining 8.7 percent in August and 14.8 percent in September – its best monthly performance since inception, the fund is now up 29.3 percent year-to-date through September, ranking as the second-best performing Nordic hedge fund this year. “The main purpose of the fund is to play “moneyball” for investors,” Andersland explains. “Their portfolios should be better with us than without. Obviously, we are trying to generate the best possible return, but the key is zero or even negative correlation with the market.” The fund has maintained a negative beta since its launch in early 2022, and Andersland is particularly pleased with its performance in a strong equity market year-to-date, as well as the profits generated during the market rout in March and April. https://lnkd.in/ddB_Qeka

When your portfolio holds six names, one big winner can move the needle in a major way. For Accendo Capital, September proved just that. A soaring share price in Finnish cybersecurity firm SSH Communications Security more than offset declines elsewhere, lifting the activist fund 22.6 percent for the month and pushing its year-to-date gain to 22 percent, enough to rank among the top ten performers in the Nordic hedge fund universe this year. “September delivered strong performance, driven by increased investor and media attention to SSH in anticipation of the Leonardo partnership,” said Mark H. Shay, CFA, Accendo’s Senior Partner based in Stockholm. “Leonardo’s executive management visited Finland and provided inspiring comments to the media on the planned co-operation.” https://lnkd.in/dnD9tdAQ

In what has now become a monthly series, Alexander Mende of RPM Risk & Portfolio Management AB summarizes the key developments among trend-following CTA managers for September. Nordic CTA strategies gained in September, supported by a broad-based trend environment. Most of the profits came from precious metals, as gold surged from record high to record high amid expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts and concerns over the Federal Reserve’s independence. With few exceptions, performance was positive across managers and sub-strategies. https://lnkd.in/d_8pUk5d

Lynx Asset Management, best known for its flagship trend-following program Lynx, has in recent years expanded its product offering with the launch of Lynx Constellation and Lynx Systematic Macro. Both strategies faced challenging conditions immediately after inception, but this October they celebrate important anniversaries on the back of solid performance. “For both strategies, we were humbled right out of the gate,” recalls David Jansson, CIO at Lynx Asset Management. “Lynx Constellation launched just before the COVID-19 pandemic and had difficulty as markets behaved as they never had in the past.” The launch of Lynx Systematic Macro also came with its share of early challenges. “The recent success of both programs and the upcoming anniversaries are even more rewarding for the team because of the challenging early days,” says Jansson. https://lnkd.in/dtRj8i7T