- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Related

Keeping the Sleeves Rolled Up

Latest Report

- Advertisement -

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Activist investor Accendo was among the Nordic hedge fund industry’s top performers of 2019 with a full-year return of 45.6 percent, with the only detractor from performance being the depreciation of the Swedish krona. “In 2019 all of our portfolio holdings contributed positively to performance,” Elise Auer, Director of Investor Relations at Accendo, tells HedgeNordic. 2019 was a stable yet fruitful year for Accendo, in which “we have been working very well together in our composition of the core team and senior advisors.”

Accendo is an activist fund that maintains a focused portfolio of predominantly small- and mid-cap companies from Northern Europe. All six holdings in Accendo’s portfolio contributed to performance last year, with the highest-performing name being Swedish nanotechnology company Impact Coatings. “Since the partnership agreement with Hyundai Motor Company, the stock started to rally and is up 224 percent for 2019,” says Auer. Finnish video game developer Remedy Entertainment gained 77 percent over 2019. “With Remedy being the largest position in the portfolio, it was also the main contributor to the fund’s performance.”

“2019 was a strong year for Swedish and Finnish small-caps generally,” says Accendo Capital founder Henri Österlund, “but we can clearly trace the excess returns of our fund to our actions and engagement as owners and board members.” Impact Coatings partnering with Hyundai Motor Company for technology development and Remedy Entertainment maturing as a listed company since Accendo helped list the company on the stock exchange in 2017 represent “two examples of our activist approach helping drive returns,” added Österlund.

High concentration can be equally good or bad for fund performance shorter-term, but can lead to outperformance over the longer term if targeted improvements are combined with good stock selection. Following a loss of about 25 percent in 2018, Accendo recorded its second-best yearly performance on record last year. Auer says Accendo has been “delighted to see so many of our investors holding on after a challenging 2018, testimony to having the right type of investors with us.” Auer emphasizes that “we think long-term with our investments, and it is great to have investors on board who share the same objectives.” A little patience paid off well for Accendo’s investors.

Portfolio Snapshot

Despite maintaining a concentrated portfolio, all of Accendo’s holdings are well-positioned to capitalize on future trends or themes such as ageing populations, climate action, among others. “A common characteristic of all our current portfolio is that they are participating to global growth themes,” argues Auer. “The global energy transition is a significant investment theme for decades to come,” she emphasizes, and Impact Coatings provides leading coating technology for fuel cells used by hydrogen-powered electric vehicles. Other holdings benefit from increasing longevity and a growing global senior population, increasing global security and healthcare spending, to name a few.

Although “many investors have been worrying about the prospects of a recession and looking to reduce their equity exposure since 2015”, Accendo “believe we have an exciting new decade starting.” The Accendo team “looks forward to continuing to roll up our sleeves for our investors and for the benefit of our portfolio companies,” concludes Auer.

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

Double Win for Accendo

Activist investor Accendo Capital maintains a concentrated portfolio of six holdings, making its overall performance highly sensitive to developments within individual investments. The fund delivered...

Crypto Climbs, Copper Crumbles: A Mixed July for Nordic CTAs

The NHX CTA Index posted another monthly gain in July 2025, as steady profits in soft commodities and equity indices managed to offset balance...

Strong Five-Year Run Fuels Excalibur’s Return to SEK 1 Billion AUM

Excalibur Fixed Income has regained the SEK 1 billion mark in assets under management for the first time since 2019, driven by a strong...

Quirky Questions for Dr. Alexander Mende (RPM)

Not every conversation in the hedge fund world needs to revolve around trend signals, Sharpe ratios, or manager due diligence. In HedgeNordic’s ongoing Quirky...

Elementa Tops Swedish Hedge Fund Universe in H1

After celebrating its ten-year anniversary in March, long/short equity fund Elementa closed the first half of 2025 as the best-performing Swedish hedge fund, delivering...

Asgard Winds Down Macro Strategy, Refocuses on Fixed Income

Less than a year after the launch of Asgard-Steno Global Macro Fund – a collaborative effort between macro strategist Andreas Steno Larsen and fixed-income...

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.