Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Birger Durhuus, the former CEO of Danish fixed-income boutique Asgard Asset Management, has joined London-based Absolute Return Partners as Partner. The investment advisory firm is planning to launch a fund that seeks to offer exposure to decades-long megatrends.
“After my departure from Asgard Asset Management, I have been on the lookout for a new challenge, and I think I have found the perfect project for me as partner at Absolute Return Partners,” Durhuus tells HedgeNordic. Absolute Return Partners (ARP), founded by Niels Jensen in 2002, provides thematic, innovative, and bespoke investment solutions for institutional investors and family offices.
“After my departure from Asgard Asset Management, I have been on the lookout for a new challenge, and I think I have found the perfect project for me as partner at Absolute Return Partners.”
The firm has been managing separate accounts for institutional investors based on megatrends identified by the team at Absolute Return Partners. Some megatrends – long-term structural trends – that are driving investment decisions at ARP include “Climate Change,” as well as “Changing Demographics,” and “The Rise of the East,” among others. The partners at ARP are planning to offer an investment opportunity to a wider audience by launching the strategy in a fund format.
“We have for some time contemplated launching a fund with a strategy similar to what we pursue in our separate accounts,” says Niels Jensen, Founder and CIO of ARP. “With the appointment of Durhuus, we have decided that the time has come to offer the investment opportunity to a broader audience.” The fund will take long and short positions in publicly traded instruments across various asset classes, such as equities, fixed income, commodities, and foreign exchange (FX).
“I was attracted by the partners’ ability to think outside the box and provide exposures to strategies not common in most investors’ portfolios,” Durhuus informs HedgeNordic. Absolute Return Partners currently maintains exposure to uranium, lithium, water, carbon, but also renewables, industrial metals, and healthcare, among others. ARP expects to launch the fund in June. “Together with the partners, my role is to make the fund offerings at Absolute Return Partners a success,” concludes Durhuus.
