- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Related

Nordic CTAs Suffer Worst Month on Record

Latest Report

- Advertisement -

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After having enjoyed a strong start to 2018, Nordic CTAs, as measured by the NHX CTA Index, experienced their worst month on record in February. The NHX CTA was down 4.9 percent last month (100 percent reported), as trends broke across all sectors except for fixed income. This NHX sub-category is down 1.8 percent year to date.

The largest global CTA programs performed slightly worse than their Nordic counterparts, with the Barclay BTOP50 Index dropping an estimated 5.4 percent. The Barclay BTOP50 Index tracks the performance of the 20 largest investable trading advisor programs. In a similar vein, the Société Générale CTA Index, which tracks the largest 20 CTAs by assets under management, was down 6.3 percent last month. February marked the worst month for the SG CTA Index since November 2001.

“Clearly, CTAs have had a difficult February, and trend followers were particularly hard hit at the beginning of the month,” Tom Wrobel, Director of Alternative Investments Consulting at Société Générale Prime Services, was quoted as saying on the performance of CTAs. “The recent market movements have led to uncertainty, and as a result, many CTAs gave back their performance following a strong period in January. As the month continued many trend-followers recovered slightly and some non-trend strategies posted positive performance, so it will be interesting to observe how CTAs react to the changing market conditions going forward,” he added.

If not for the three funds that gained 5 percent or more, the February performance of the NHX CTA Index would have been significantly worse. Two vehicles managed by Informed Portfolio Management AB were among the best gainers within the NHX CTA Index. IPM Systematic Currency Fund and IPM Systematic Macro Fund gained 7.3 percent and 5.0 percent, recovering the losses incurred in the first month of the year (up 3.7 percent and 2.9 percent YTD). MG Commodity, a Helsinki-based commodity fund, advanced 6.2 percent in February, bringing the year-to-date performance to 8.8 percent.

Six of the 21 members of the NHX CTA Index recorded losses of 10 percent or more in February. Paradoxically, RPM Galaxy, which aims to provide investors with Crisis Alpha (i.e. strong returns in periods of equity distress), lost 17.5 percent in February. Lynx and Estlander & Partners Alpha Trend II – Class P retreated 14.1 percent and 13.8 percent last month, respectively.

 

Picture © Shutterstock – Ersler Dmitry

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

Origo’s Johansson Returns to Sohn Conference with High-Conviction Pick

Swedish stock-picking boutique Origo Fonder is gaining fresh recognition following a strategic transformation, strong performance, and growing assets. The firm’s evolution into an “Origo...

Commodities Lift CTAs Amid Turmoil

In June 2025, the NHX CTA Index was up as losses in stocks and bonds were outweighed by profits in commodities, but briefly erupting...

Finserve Global Security Fund Boosts Quant Edge with Martin Redgård

Under lead portfolio manager Joakim Agerback, the Finserve Global Security Fund has successfully capitalized on the global surge in defense, cybersecurity, and space investments...

Visio Allocator Storms Back After Difficult March

After posting the worst monthly performance in its 15-year history with a 13.7 percent decline in March, the team behind the multi-strategy Visio Allocator...

Sissener Expands Investment and Sales Teams with Senior Hires

Just months after bringing on Mads Andreassen as Investment Manager, Norwegian fund boutique Sissener AS continues to expand its team with two key additions....

Fenja Capital Deepens Bench as Analyst Moves to Full-Time Role

After earning his Master’s degree in Economics from Aalborg University, Anders Madsen has transitioned from a part-time role to a full-time analyst position at...

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.