- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Related

ALCUR Set to Join Losers’ Club for First Time?

Industry Report

- Advertisement -

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – ALCUR, a Stockholm-based long/short absolute return fund managed by Consafe Capital Advisors AB, is suffering one of its worst performance patches in its almost 11-year history. The fund posted a negative net-of-fees return of 1.05% in July, the fund’s fourth consecutive month of negative performance.

Despite the lackluster performance delivered in the last couple of months, ALCUR is down a mere 1.10% since the start of the year through the end of July. Should the Nordic-focused asset manager fail to end the year in positive territory, the fund will register its first annual loss since its inception in January 2007. Returns for Nordic equity-focused hedge funds have been lacking in the past couple of months, and ALCUR is no exception. The NHX Equities Index fell for the third consecutive month in July, with the index dropping by 0.21% in May, 0.24% in July, and 0.58% in August.

ALCUR’s July loss was mainly attributable to the negative share price development of some core holdings. The fund’s positions in real estate services provider Prime Living AB and online reseller of sports and leisure products Sportamore were the biggest detractors from performance in July. The share price development of both companies was very strong in the first half of the year and the team behind ALCUR continues to believe in the long-term potential of these companies despite recent share price weakness. The fund’s small holding in provider of cloud-based communications services CLX Communications AB was the third-largest detractor from performance in July, as the shares of the software company fell by a disturbing 20% after releasing a seemingly disappointing second-quarter report. The report revealed slightly higher costs than expected, but the ALCUR team believes the drop was a significant overreaction. They point out that a new theme emerged in July, characterized by strong criticism for the slightest disappointment on the part of growth companies.

Not everything went wrong for ALCUR in July though. The absolute return fund’s short positions in bearing and seal manufacturing company SKF, lock manufacturer Assa, and medical technology company Getinge AB, as well as its long positions in SSAB, Lumi, Tele2 and Evolution Gaming, were the largest contributors to performance in July. ALCUR currently exhibits a low net market exposure, and the fund has made a number of adjustments to the portfolio portion comprising smaller-sized companies.

Although the July negative performance has put ALCUR on track for its first ever annual loss, there is enough time to turn things around. The fund has gained 62.7% since its inception, compared to the 29.9% rise delivered by the OMX Nordic 40 Index over the same time span.

Subscribe to HedgeBrev, HedgeNordic’s weekly newsletter, and never miss the latest news!

Our newsletter is sent once a week, every Friday.

Eugeniu Guzun
Eugeniu Guzun
Eugeniu Guzun serves as a data analyst responsible for maintaining and gatekeeping the Nordic Hedge Index, and as a journalist covering the Nordic hedge fund industry for HedgeNordic. Eugeniu completed his Master’s degree at the Stockholm School of Economics in 2018. Write to Eugeniu Guzun at eugene@hedgenordic.com

Latest Articles

Rising Adoption of Quantitative Investment Strategies Among Nordic Investors

From a high-level perspective, there is a clear trend of increasing adoption of quantitative investment strategies (QIS) among Nordic institutional investors, either through the...

EU Plans Stress Test for Hedge Funds and Non-Bank Firms

European regulators are planning a stress test to identify vulnerabilities beyond the traditional banking sector, focusing on less regulated entities such as hedge funds,...

ALCUR Fonder Continues Hiring Spree

Following two earlier additions this year, ALCUR Fonder continues to expand its portfolio management team at a notable pace. The Stockholm-based hedge fund boutique...

Nordic Private Markets Modernize with Data-Centric Trade Lifecycle Automation

By Anders Stengaard Jensen at Indus Valley Partner: In recent years, asset managers in Nordic countries have accelerated efforts to modernize trade operations, particularly...

Norwegian Hedge Fund Industry Sees Major Boost with New Launch

The Swedish and Danish hedge fund industries remain closely matched in size, with Denmark recently edging ahead of Sweden. While still less than half...

Atlant Funds Hold Up in May Despite Mistimed Market Call

Macroeconomic and market forecasts are notoriously difficult, even for experienced hedge fund managers. What matters more than being right, however, is ensuring that incorrect...

Allocator Interviews

In-Depth: High Yield

Voices

Request for Proposal

- Advertisement -
HedgeNordic
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.