Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – This is a spring surely all of us will remember. I am writing this from my home office, and chances are that you too will be reading this, at home. This is one element of this extraordinary period we will remember. The other is, of course, the fear of a global pandemic, financial markets in turmoil and the massive destruction of wealth and welfare. A lot has changed in a short period. We have all become expert virologists and have strong opinions on how to battle a lethal disease. Our shopping habits are different, the way we interact with other humans has changed and, certainly for me, the way I consume media has shifted.
One thing that remains a constant in these turbulent times is that HedgeNordic publishes its annual Nordic Hedge Fund Industry Report when the page is flipped from March to April. This year´s edition again looks at launches and closures among Nordic hedge fund managers, we highlight the increasing trend of mergers and acquisitions in the space. Three of the new strategies we introduce come from Denmark´s HP, Finnish Mandatum and Sweden´s Kreditfonden.
AP3´s Torbjörn Hamnmark shares his views on global macro, and IPM´s CEO, Arne Hassel talks about expanding, while waiting for fundamentals to stage a comeback. Jonas Martenson looks at a very different risk/return set of opportunities in the secondary life insurance market has and also HCP´s Tommi Kemppainen is not up for guessing games. Peter Ragnarsson and Mikael Huldt tell us how Swedish institutional investors are turning to private markets in their hunt for yield, while Pacific´s Mattias Gromark is awaiting the next gold rush.
The specialists at Capital Four stress “The Importance of Relative Value in Credit,” Proxy P is driving and riding the energy transition, while Aaron Overy from the AMX sends us a postcard from Sweden, sharing his take on the industry.
On a personal note: I am glad to be working in an industry that functions well remotely, despite asset management being a contact sport and nothing beats the personal interaction. With so many businesses forced to close and so many jobs lost around the globe, I am relieved we can keep our virtual doors open for business. We are, of course, missing so many events we had planned to host and visit, first and foremost the Nordic Hedge Award.
I also want to send a massive thank you to everyone who made themselves available to us to be interviewed in this period, tell their story and share their views. Our sponsors and partners have been hugely supportive and encouraging in this trying period and it is a real blessing to have such strong relations. My team has adapted well to the circumstances and we stayed fully operational without any hiccups. And thank you, too, for taking the time to page through and read the 2020 Nordic Hedge Fund Industry Report.
Enjoy, stay safe!
Read the report here: Nordic Hedge Fund Industry Report 2020
