Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – For the month of March, Nordic hedge funds were up 0.5 percent on average (91 percent reported), taking the industry’s first-quarter performance to three percent. At a strategy level, Nordic trend-following CTAs performed well as trendiness in financial markets improved during the month.
Three of the five strategy categories in the Nordic Hedge Index posted gains for March, with CTAs leading the gains. The members of the NHX CTA gained 1.5 percent on average last month, taking the group’s year-to-date performance into positive territory at 0.3 percent. On average, multi-strategy and fixed-income hedge funds were up 0.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. Equity hedge funds, meanwhile, were down 0.3 percent in March, trimming the group’s first-quarter return to four percent. Funds of hedge funds lost an estimated 0.2 percent in March.
The dispersion between last month’s best and worst performing members of the Nordic Hedge Index remained at the level seen in February. In March, the top 20 percent of Nordic hedge funds gained 3.4 percent on average, whereas the bottom 20 percent lost 2.1 percent on average. In the previous month, the top 20 percent was up 3.8 percent on average and the bottom 20 percent lost 1.4 percent. More than half of all members of the Nordic Hedge Index made money in March.
CTAs dominated last month’s performance leaderboard, with SEB Asset Selection Opportunistic, managed with twice the volatility target of flagship trend-follower SEB Asset Selection, topping the table. The fund booked a gain of 7.7 percent for March, erasing almost all the losses incurred in the previous two months. Systematic trend-following hedge fund Lynx (Sweden) followed suit with a gain of 7.6 percent, which extended the fund’s gains for the year to nine percent.
HCP Focus, an equity fund that maintains a concentrated portfolio of high-quality businesses, advanced 5.4 percent last month, taking the fund’s performance for the year to 32.2 percent. The fund managed by Ernst Grönblom is this year’s best-performing member of the Nordic Hedge Index. RPM Galaxy, a multi-CTA fund that invests in large, established CTA managers, and quantitative trend-follower Nordea 1 – Heracles Long/Short MI Fund were up 5.4 percent and 5.3 percent, correspondingly.
The Month in Review for March 2019 can be downloaded below:
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