Nordic Hedge funds strong in 2012, fall behind international peers

Stockholm (HedgeFonder.nu) – Nordic hedge funds ended the year on a high, according to the Nordic Hedge Index (NHX) which gained 0,68% in December and ended the year at an Index Value of 133,16 an advance of 4,16%  based on data provided by 73% of the 122 funds within NHX.

Nordic hedge funds however stayed behind their international peers which gained 1.63 per cent in December and were up 8.27 per cent for 2012 according to the Barclay Hedge Fund Index.

Four out of the five sub-indices in NHX showed gains in December, with Managed Futures / CTA being the only sub index closing in negative territory, down 0,18%

NHX Equities was most profitable, up just over one per cent in December, based on numbers reported from 85% of managers within the index. Fixed Income hedge funds were up by 0,88% (89% reported) and Multi Strategy funds by half a percentage point (82% reported). With only 17% of fund of hedge funds completed calculations the FoHF sub index just made it to positive territory.

Norways Sector Zen fund outpaced all its peers in December and returned 11,4% for the month and 19,16% for the full year, roughly twice its yearly average. Denmarks Cresco  gained a strong  5,72% in December. Third best performer in December was Stockholm based Adapto Nordic, up 4,48% (14,38%  YTD).

For the full year Fixed Income strategies were best performing, NHX Fixed income returning 12,72%, Multi strategy funds 7%, Nordic equity hedge funds gained 4,2% and NHX FoHF was up by 0,73%.   Managed Futures were a double exception in 2012: The NHX CTA sub index was the only one to end 2012 in negative territory and still the only sub index better than comparable international indices, Barclay CTA index being down by 1,62% for the year.  A more detailed look at Nordic CTA performance  can be read in the 4th quarter overview for that segment. HedgeFonder.nu will be hosting a roundtable discussion with Nordic CTA managers and investors later in January.

Best performing Nordic hedge fund across all segments was a close match between two Danish fixed income managers, Midgard Fixed Income Fund, up 33,99% in 2012 just ahead of Danske Invest Hedge Fixed Income, up by 33.61%. Runners up were two Swedish equity focused hedge funds P&N Idea advancing 22,29% for the year and Atlant Fonders Edge up 22,59%.

At the other end of the spectrum Stella Polaris despite modest gains in December was the weakest performer among all 122 Nordic hedge funds in HedgeNordic databases, down 11,62% for the year. Stella recently announced in a press release the closure of its funds. Gaining 1,5% in December, DNB TMT Absolute Return lost close to 11% in 2012.

The first Nordic Hedge Award will also draw it´s data from the NHX databases. Submission for the award is open until February 15th. For categories „best small fund“ and „best new fund“ managers must submit separately.

 *Data for December 2012 and therefor full year numbers is outstanding from nearly one quarter of all managers, among them most Fund of Funds and nearly half of Norwegian managers, who traditionally report late. 

Picture: (c) shutterstock—wrangler