Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Following the departures of both Ola Björkmo and Jonas Sandefeldt from QQM Fund Management to join Meriti Capital earlier this year, QQM’s board has made the decision to close down the systematic market-neutral equity fund, QQM Equity Hedge. Initially, QQM had set out to find a replacement portfolio manager, but subsequently opted to wind down the fund.
Since 2022, QQM Fund Management has operated as a subsidiary of Nowonomics, a Swedish fintech company offering a digital savings platform. QQM continues to manage the Nowo Global Fund, serving about 46,600 investors, and is actively considering the introduction of additional fund products in line with the needs of its client base, according to QQM’s CEO, Rutger Selin. With Nowonomics and its savings platform primarily oriented towards retail investors, one contributing factor to the decision to close down the monthly-traded alternative investment fund QQM Equity Hedge is its focus on institutional investors.
After the departures of Ola Björkmo and Jonas Sandefeldt to Meriti Capital, QQM Equity Hedge found itself without a portfolio management team. The two have been partners for the past 17, most recently as co-owners and co-portfolio managers at QQM Fund Management. Together, they managed QQM Equity Hedge since July 2010, employing a systematic market-neutral strategy to capture fundamental momentum in listed European companies.
Nowonomics initially agreed to acquire a 72 percent stake in QQM Fund Management in mid-2021. In March 2023, Nowonomics bought out the remaining 28 percent equity stake from Björkmo, who subsequently stepped down from his position as CEO and portfolio manager at the Stockholm-based asset manager to join Meriti Capital as CEO and Chief Investment Officer.
Sandefeldt temporarily managed QQM Equity Hedge on his own for a few months following Björkmo’s departure. He, too, left QQM to join Björkmo at Meriti Capital on September 4, where he took on the role of Head of Systematic Fund Management. This move left QQM Equity Hedge without a dedicated manager and resulted in a capital outflow from the fund due to Sandefeldt’s departure.
The duo has been actively involved in the launch of several new funds under the umbrella of Meriti Capital, including a market-neutral equity fund. “Jonas and I, together with our new colleagues Gustav Andåker and Hans Turitz, will develop and manage fund products with unique risk and return characteristics,” said Björkmo in connection with the appointment of Sandefeldt as Head of Systematic Fund Management at Meriti Capital back in September.
