Nordic Funds Win UCITS Hedge Awards

Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Four Nordic funds were honoured for performance at the UCITS Hedge Awards 2020 organized by the Hedge Fund Journal. Norwegian long/short equity fund Sissener Canopus and three vehicles of Stockholm-based asset manager Norron AB were distinguished at this year’s UCITS Hedge Awards.

Sissener Canopus, a bottom-up stock-picking fund with flexibility to adapt to dynamic market conditions using various financial instruments, was named the best performing fund over five-year and seven-year periods in the “Long/Short Equity – Global” category. The fund founded by Jan Petter Sissener delivered an annualized return of 9.2 percent over the past five years to the end of last year and 13 percent during the seven years to the end of last year. Sissener Canopus was down 4.8 percent month-to-date through March 10 after significantly reducing its net market exposure. The fund reduced its net market exposure to 4.4 percent at the end of February and into negative territory at the beginning of March in response to the development of COVID-19.

Three funds under the umbrella of Norron AB were distinguished as the best performing funds in three different categories. Norron Target, a fund with low risk-taking that oversees SEK 4.2 billion in assets under management, was named the best performing fund over a four-year period in the “Long/Short Equity – Nordic” award category. The fund maintains a portfolio of Nordic equities that is protected against corrections by carefully-selected interest-bearing instruments. Norron Target delivered an annualized return of 2.7 percent during the four-year period to the end of 2019 and achieved an annualized return of 3.4 percent and a Sharpe ratio of 0.8 since launching in March 2011.

Norron Select, a long/short equity fund that can take on more risk than the other fund, was selected as the best performing fund over the past five-year and seven-year periods in the same category. The fund managed by an investment team led by Marcus Plyhr (pictured right) generated annualized returns of 5.2 percent and 8.4 percent over the past five years and seven years through the end of last year. Norron Select invests in listed companies in the Nordics and employs hedging through index futures, index derivatives and short positions in individual stocks. Norron Premium, an actively managed fund investing in Nordic fixed-income securities, was named the best performing fund in the “Absolute Return Bonds – Nordic” category for 2019 and over the past two-, three-, four-, five- and seven-year periods.

Congratulations to the winners!