Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Nordic equity hedge funds rebounded last month as stock markets soared following one of their worst first-half of the year performance in decades. Equity funds in the Nordic Hedge Index advanced 3.7 percent in July (85 percent reported) to trim their year-to-date decline to 4.4 percent.
The top 20 percent of Nordic equity hedge funds advanced 11.9 percent on average in July and the bottom 20 percent lost 2.3 percent, representing a top-to-bottom dispersion of 14.2 percent. About three in every four equity hedge funds in the Nordic Hedge Index with reported July figures posted gains last month. One in every four Nordic equity hedge funds ended the first seven months of 2022 in positive territory.
Long-only and long-biased equity hedge funds led the equity pack in July, with activist investor Accendo advancing 28.4 percent last month to trim its year-to-date decline to 8.9 percent. HCP Focus Fund, which runs a concentrated long-only portfolio of about 12 names, booked a monthly gain of 19.5 percent in July to end the first seven months of 2022 down 41.5 percent.
Cleaves Shipping Fund, a shipping-only long/short equity fund managed by Joakim Hannisdahl, gained 11.3 percent in July to extend its 2022 advance to 36.9 percent. The shipping fund is currently this year’s best-performing member of the Nordic Hedge Index. Launched as a Norwegian alternative investment fund in late 2021, Cleaves Shipping Fund migrated into an Irish QIAIF structure in early July.
Systematic value-focused fund HCP Quant gained 10.2 percent in July to recoup some of the losses incurred in June and end the first seven months of the year down 5.8 percent. Healthcare-focused, long-biased long/short equity fund Rhenman Healthcare Equity L/S advanced 8.7 percent last month, ending the first seven months of the year in negative territory at 5.2 percent.
This Year’s Best-Performing Equity Hedge Funds in the Nordics
Energy transition-focused Proxy Renewable Long/Short Energy gained 4.8 percent in July to extend its year-to-date advance to 28.3 percent. Proxy Renewable Long/Short Energy is currently the third best-performing fund within the Nordic Hedge Index this year. Despite incurring a loss of 4.5 percent in July, long/short equity fund Elementa is still up 22.5 percent for the year and remains among the top five best-performing Nordic hedge funds of the year.
Energy-focused Oceanic Hedge Fund and OAM Absolute Return Fund, which have yet to report their July return figures, remain among the top ten best-performing hedge funds of the year with yearly return figures of 17.4 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively. DNB Asset Management’s TMT Long/Short Equities, meanwhile, advanced 14.5 percent over the first seven months of 2022 to surpass its best annual performance of 13.2 percent in 2013.
Photo by Frank Busch on Unsplash
