Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – From the eight Nordic hedge funds recognized as “Top Performer” winners at the Investors Choice Awards 2020 in the EMEA region, only Ress Life Investments went on to win an “Investors Choice” award. “This award gives us recognition for our long-term commitment to the asset class in which we have built a solid track record since the fund’s inception in 2011,” Cristina Lugaro (pictured right), Institutional Sales at Resscapital, comments on the distinction.

The “Top Performer” winners, which were announced earlier this summer, competed for the “Investors Choice” awards in their respective categories. The fund managed by Stockholm-based specialist boutique hedge fund manager Resscapital was recognized for long term performance in a “Specialist” category that featured Rhenman Healthcare Equity L/S and four other “Top Performer” winners in contention for the “Investors Choice” award.

The shortlisted funds for the Investors Choice Awards – recognized as “Top Performer” winners – are selected purely based on quantitative risk-adjusted returns. The “Long-Term” award categories, one of which was won by Ress Life Investments, cover the period from January 2017 to April 2020. The winners of the Investors Choice Awards, meanwhile, are determined by a jury board of institutional investors that scores the “Top Performers” on a range of qualitative criteria, including investment processes, risk framework, transparency, team and ability to generate alpha.

Ress Life Investments, which buys life insurance policies in the United States in the secondary market for these policies, has also been named the “Best Nordic Hedge Fund” and “Best Nordic Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund” at this year’s edition of the Nordic Hedge Award. The fund overseen by Anton Pozine (pictured center), Head of Portfolio Management, delivered an annualized return of about seven percent in the past 36 months through the end of June. “During the last five years, the volatility of the fund has been only four percent and the risk-adjusted return, measured by the Sharpe ratio, is an excellent 1.4,” emphasizes Lugaro. “We believe that being an established player that selectively purchases policies will reduce risks and increase returns for our investors,” she continues. Ress Life Investments currently oversees about $190 million in assets under management.

Ress Life Investments was up two percent in the first half of 2020 and was flat to marginally positive in the first quarter of the year. Resscapital’s strategy of investing in the secondary market for U.S. life settlements exhibits no correlation to traditional asset classes. The fund has been immune to the broader market volatility triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences. As Jonas Mårtenson (pictured left), the founder of Resscapital, previously told HedgeNordic, “the main risk factor in a life insurance portfolio – longevity – is fundamentally uncorrelated to other major asset classes.”