Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Barron´s published their famous “Best 100 Hedge Funds” list. The funds seem to rank funds solely by one criteria, their three year compound annualized return, based on data drawn from BarclayHedge (unrelated to Barclays Bank), Moringstar, and eVestment databases. No funds out of the Nordic hedge fund universe are among the listed. While not knowing the exact formula Barron used to calculate the compound returns, using a common calculation method, the list would contain several Nordic funds – in fact, fourteen would make the top 100. One were even to grab first place – by a mile!
Swedish Rhenman Healthcare Equity L/S would be ranked 1st (38.5%), Norwegian Taiga and Finnish HCP Focus would be in joint 11th (23.42%), Danish Formuepleje Penta would be 15th (20.57%), Pareto Nordic Omega would make the top 20 (19.48%), Accendo would be in 35th position (17.58%), Sector Sigma Nordic Fund in 52nd (16.11%) and Gladiator in 55th place (15.8%). Other funds represented in the Nordic Hedge Index (NHX) that would make it to Barron´s top 100 list are Norron Select (14.7%), PriorNilsson Idea (14.56%), AAM Absolute Return Fund (14.35%), VISIO Allocator (13.66%), Sector Zen (12.65%) and QQM Equity Hedge (12.62%). (Not adjusting for shifts in position by adding additional names, data source HedgeNordic.com)
Most likely explanation as to why not one makes the Barron´s Top 100 is that the funds are not included in any of the databases used to compound data for the list.
On Barron´s “Best 100 Hedge Fund” list, little-known Parametrica Global Master of Hong Kong takes the top spot, while past stalwarts like Pershing Square and Greenlight Capital don’t make this year’s list.
While we would challenge the claim defining “the best” hedge fund simply by its annualized, compound returns, the entire list can be found here: Barron’s 2016 List: Best 100 Hedge Funds
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