Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic funds of hedge funds gained 0.3 percent on average in June (94 percent reported), with the group ending the first half of 2019 nearly flat. Brummer Multi-Strategy booked its best first-half performance since 2009 and Formuepleje Merkur is on track to achieve its best annual performance since inception.

Nordic funds of hedge funds are trailing their global counterparts by a wide margin so far in 2019. The Eurekahedge Fund of Funds Index, which reflects the average performance of 379 constituent funds, gained 1.7 percent last month and 6.3 percent in the first half of 2019. The Barclay Funds of Funds Index, which measures the average return of all funds of funds in the Barclay database, was up an estimated 1.6 percent in June. The Barclay index gained 5.4 percent in the first six months of 2019.

After booking a monthly gain above two percent in June, Formuepleje Merkur and Brummer Multi-Strategy ended the first half of 2019 as the best performing funds of hedge funds in the Nordic Hedge Index. Formuepleje Merkur, which invests in hedge funds, alternative funds and other funds, gained 2.1 percent last month, bringing its year-to-date return to 6.6 percent. Danish asset manager Formuepleje’s fund of funds is yet to post a yearly loss since launching in June 2013.

Brummer Multi-Strategy, a fund funds investing in single-strategy hedge funds within the Brummer & Partners family, posted a return of 5.7 percent for the first six months of 2019 after gaining 2.1 percent in June. Brummer Multi-Strategy currently enjoys a seven-month streak of consecutive positive returns. Brummer’s multi-strategy 2xL fund, meanwhile, advanced 10.7 percent in the first half of 2019. All existing underlying managers posted positive returns for the first half of the year, with systematic trend-following fund Lynx being the strongest performer in the group with an estimated year-to-date return of 13.5 percent.

AIM Diversified Strategies Fund, which invests in externally-managed alternative strategies and is tactically adjusted to navigate the economic cycle and changing market conditions, gained 4.3 percent year-to-date through the end of May. OPM Vega, which invests in a portfolio of Nordic hedge funds, and Danske Invest Eliksir FoHF gained 3.3 percent and 2.5 percent in the first half of 2019, respectively. Danske’s fund of funds invests in Finnish and foreign funds employing various absolute return investment strategies.

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