Sweden’s HF Industry Second Largest in Europe

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Sweden houses the second largest market for hedge funds in Europe. According to data provider Preqin, the Swedish hedge fund industry oversees $37.5 billion in assets under management as of the end of June, accounting for 6.6 percent of total European assets.

Sweden is the centre of hedge fund activity in the Nordic region, both in terms of assets under management and concentration of managers. Around 59 percent of all members of the Nordic Hedge Index are based in Sweden or have strong ties with Sweden. Based on data collected by HedgeNordic, the 52 of the 100 Swedish hedge funds with reported assets under management data manage €12.6 billion as of the end of June. This figure mainly reflects the assets managed by each fund’s share class that is reflected in the Nordic Hedge Index.

Reflecting the strategy assets as opposed to share class assets of some of the largest hedge funds in Sweden (i.e., Brummer Multi-Strategy, IPM Systematic Macro Fund, Lynx), the Swedish hedge fund industry had €21.7 billion in assets under management at the end of June. Activist fund Cevian Capital, which manages €11.5 billion according to Preqin, is not a member of the Nordic Hedge Index. Large hedge fund firms such as Cevian Capital and Brummer & Partners, which oversees €11.1 billion according to Preqin, helped build the fifth-largest hedge fund industry in the world.

According to Preqin’s latest “Alternative Assets in Europe” report, equity strategies represent the largest proportion of Sweden-based hedge funds (33 percent), followed by relative value strategies (15 percent) and managed futures or CTAs (14 percent). Based on HedgeNordic’s strategy classification, equity hedge funds account for 42 percent of the 100 Swedish hedge funds in the Nordic Hedge Index, followed by multi-strategy vehicles (22 percent), funds of funds (14 percent), fixed income funds (12 percent) and CTAs (10 percent).

Preqin’s report shows that Danish and Norwegian funds held €7.4 billion and €2.7 billion in assets, respectively. According to the data in the HedgeNordic database, the 33 of the 40 Danish hedge funds with reported assets under management data held €12.3 billion in assets at the end of June. The 10 of the 18 Norwegian hedge funds with reported data on assets oversee €1.7 billion.

The full 2019 “Alternative Assets in Europe” report can be found below: