Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic equity hedge funds fell by 2.3 percent on average last month (86 percent reported), as equity markets across the globe ended the month with the worst week for investors since 2008. Only one in every seven members of the NHX Equities reported gains for February.
Global equity markets, as measured by the FTSE World Index, declined by 7.6 percent in Euro terms last month. Nordic equities, as expressed by the VINX All-Share Index, returned a negative 7.0 percent in Euro terms. The index includes all firms listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchanges and Oslo Börs. Eurozone equities were down 7.8 percent, while North American stocks fell by 7.3 percent in Euro terms.
Based on preliminary estimates, both European and global equity hedge funds experienced negative performance for a second consecutive month. The Eurekahedge Long Short Equities Hedge Fund Index, which tracks the performance of about 900 global equity hedge funds, was down 2.7 percent last month based on reported data from 14 percent of index constituents. European equity hedge funds, as expressed by the Eurekahedge Europe Long Short Equities Hedge Fund Index, also lost 2.7 percent on average based on reported data from 17 percent of index constituents.
The dispersion between last month’s best- and worst-performing members of the NHX Equities widened relative to the previous month, as the bottom performers incurred larger-than-usual losses. Last month, the top 20 percent of members gained 1.9 percent on average, whereas the bottom 20 percent was down 6.9 percent on average. In January, the top 20 performers were up 4.1 percent on average and the bottom 20 performers were down 3.9 percent. Only eight members of the NHX Equities with reported February figures posted gains for last month.
Proxy Renewable Long/Short Energy, an energy transition-focused long/short equity fund managed by Stockholm-based Proxy P Management, was last month’s best-performing fund in the Nordic Hedge Index (read more). The fund gained 7.5 percent in February, extending the year-to-date performance to 10.0 percent. Niche long/short equity fund Elementa closely followed suit with a February gain of 6.0 percent (read more). The fund founded and managed by Marcus Wahlberg is up 9.8 percent in the first two months of the year. Coeli’s market-neutral energy equity fund, Coeli Energy Transition, gained 2.5 percent last month. Foghorn and Sector Healthcare Fund were up 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
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