- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Related

Varma Divests From Credit, Goes Into Macro Hedge Funds

Industry Report

- Advertisement -

Stockholm (Hedgenordic/Bloomberg) – Varma, the Finnish private-sector pension firm with about 45 billion euros of assets, may shift more money into global macro investments as it sours on credit, Bloomberg reports.

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co. may shrink its exposure to credit long/short strategies later this year or in the first half of 2019, according to Kai Rimpi, its director of hedge funds. The company has already cut investment in the strategies over the last two years to 5 percent of its portfolio, from 15 percent.

“Corporate credit long/short hedge funds are one area where it’s just very difficult to generate the risk-adjusted returns we’re looking for”, Rimpi said in an interview. “It’s performed extremely well for years but now that spreads are tight, it will make producing similar returns difficult.”

“Corporate credit long/short hedge funds are one area where it’s just very difficult to generate the risk-adjusted returns we’re looking for”

Varma has about 8.5 billion euros, or some 18 percent of the money it manages, invested in hedge funds. Macro allocations may climb to 18 percent of the total from the current 15 percent, according to Rimpi. The firm also invests in multi-strategy funds and relative value.

“It’s been difficult for many years, but we feel that opportunities are definitely improving in global macro, particularly for developed markets,” he said.

According do databases tracking the global macro industry, performance this year has been a mixed bag. The Barclayhedge Global Macro Index was down 0.2 percent by the end of September while the Eurekahedge Global Macro Hedge Fund Index posted a net loss of 0.8 percent. In 2017, those indices produced returns of around 4 percent.

Varma’s hedge fund investments are up 3.4 percent through June 30. That’s down from an 8.5 percent gain for the whole of last year and a 5.6 percent rise in 2016, according to the company.

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels

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

Our newsletter is sent once a week, every Friday.

HedgeNordic Editorial Team
HedgeNordic Editorial Team
This article was written, or published, by the HedgeNordic editorial team.

Latest Articles

Machine Learning Helps Lynx Constellation in Tough Trend Markets

Lynx Asset Management is best known for its flagship trend-following strategy, the Lynx Program, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. In late 2019,...

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...

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.