Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic hedge funds gained 0.5 percent on average in August (92 percent reported), representing the seventh month in the past eight of positive performance. After pulling off their best first-half performance since 2009 and enjoying further gains in July and August, Nordic hedge funds are now up 5.4 percent for the first eight months of 2021.
Three of the five strategy categories within the Nordic Hedge Index enjoyed gains last month, with equity hedge funds topping the performance table. Equity funds within the Nordic Hedge Index gained 1.2 percent on average in August to extend their year-to-date advance to 8.4 percent. Multi-strategy funds and funds of funds advanced 0.6 percent and 0.4. percent, respectively. Multi-strategy vehicles are up 5.7 percent in the first eight months of this year, while funds of hedge funds are up 4.4 percent. Fixed-income hedge funds, meanwhile, edged down 0.1 percent in August to trim their year-to-date advance to 1.9 percent. CTAs were down 0.4 percent on average last month to bring the group’s 2021 performance down to 2.3 percent.
At a country level, Swedish and Norwegian hedge funds gained the most in August, with both groups gaining 0.6 percent on average. Swedish hedge funds, which account for the largest portion of the Nordic hedge fund industry, are now up 3.9 percent for the first eight months of 2021, while Norwegian funds ended the eight months of the year up 8.7 percent. Finnish hedge funds, meanwhile, advanced 0.5 percent on average in August to take their 2021 advance to 8.1 percent. The Danish hedge fund industry, dominated by fixed-income-focused managers, edged up 0.2 percent last month, bringing the group’s performance for the first eight months of this year to 5.4 percent.
The dispersion between last month’s best- and worst-performing members of the Nordic Hedge Index decreased month-over-month. In August, the top 20 percent of Nordic hedge funds gained 2.9 percent on average, while the bottom 20 percent lost 1.5 percent. In July, the top 20 percent were up 3.8 percent on average and the bottom 20 percent were down 2.6 percent. A little more than three-fifths of the members of the Nordic Hedge Index with reported August figures posted gains for the month.
Top Performers in August
Equity funds dominated the list of last month’s best performers in the Nordic Hedge Index, with activist investor Accendo leading the table. Accendo gained 7.9 percent in August to take its performance for the first eight months of this year to 30.5 percent. The activist investor, which currently maintains a concentrated portfolio of seven holdings, has generated an annualized return of 44 percent in the past 36 months. Following five consecutive months of negative performance, Adrigo Small & Midcap L/S advanced 7.2 percent in August to bring its 2021 performance back into positive territory.
Systematic value-focused fund HCP Quant was up 6.1 percent last month to extend its year-to-date gains to 36.9 percent. Danish long/short equity fund Symmetry Invest is this year’s best-performing member of the Nordic Hedge Index after its August advance of 4.8 percent brought the year-to-date performance to 42.7 percent. Norwegian discretionary macro fund NOR Global Makro gained 4.0 percent last month to trim the year-to-date decline to 1.0 percent.
The Month in Review for August 2021 can be downloaded below:
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