Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Fund boutique Origo Fonder has appointed Per Johansson as Co-Chief Investment Officer and Oscar Severinsson as Chief Operating Officer. Johansson, a well-known figure in the Nordic hedge fund industry as the founder of Brummer & Partners-backed Bodenholm, will now partner with Origo’s founder and long-standing CIO, Stefan Roos, in leading the boutique’s investment activities.

Johansson most recently served as co-manager of Didner & Gerge’s flagship equity fund, Didner & Gerge Aktiefond. He is best known in the Nordics for founding and leading Bodenholm Capital, which managed a Europe-focused fundamental equity long/short strategy. Johansson began his career in 2004 as an equity research analyst at Fidelity in London, later serving as co-portfolio manager of the Fidelity Series Emerging Market fund and sole portfolio manager of the Fidelity Nordic fund. He left Fidelity in the summer of 2014 to later launch Bodenholm Capital in Stockholm in early 2015.

“Per is a unique stock-picker and I have followed him ever since he started the hedge fund Bodenholm. He was without a doubt our most impressive industry colleague and competitor,” Stefan Roos, the founder and now Co-CIO of Origo Fonder, comments on Johansson’s recruitment. “If you can’t beat him, partner with him, I thought. Now, several years later, all the pieces fell into place,” continues Roos. “We are very happy that Per is now joining the company both as a partner and manager. With the recruitment of Per, our organization gains an enormously skilled portfolio manager and analyst.” Roos notes that Johansson has shown an ability to create long-term alpha independent of market developments, saying that “together, we form the more experienced teams in genuinely active Nordic equity investing.”

“Per is a unique stock-picker and I have followed him ever since he started the hedge fund Bodenholm. He was without a doubt our most impressive industry colleague and competitor.”

Stefan Roos, founder and Co-CIO at Origo Fonder.

After managing the small-cap-focused hedge fund Origo Quest for ten years, Origo Fonder introduced a new long-only fund focused on Nordic micro- and small-cap companies. Since its launch in early 2012, Origo Quest has achieved an annualized return of 8.6 percent, while Origo Seleqt, which launched in March 2022, has returned a cumulative 12.4 percent through the end of July this year, with a gain of over 17 percent this year alone. “In recent years, Origo has grown and launched yet another small-cap-focused strategy, and with Per in the team, we are now ready to take the next step together,” Roos adds.

“I am very enthusiastic about Origo’s funds and future and I believe that we complement each other well and together can deliver very good risk-adjusted performance and interesting products for our investors and partners.”

Per Johansson, Partner and Co-CIO at Origo Fonder.

“I have known Stefan for a long time and followed Origo’s strong performance from the sidelines. I consider the development of the hedge fund over the past 12 years to be world-class, both in terms of the hedge fund-like alpha and the alpha on the long leg,” comments Johansson. “When Stefan shared his vision for Origo, I immediately understood that I wanted to be a part of it,” he adds on his new role as co-CIO and partner at Origo. “I am very enthusiastic about Origo’s funds and future and I believe that we complement each other well and together can deliver very good risk-adjusted performance and interesting products for our investors and partners.”

Origo Fonder Welcomes New COO

Origo Fonder has also appointed Oscar Severinsson as the new Chief Operating Officer. Severinsson joins from ISEC Group, where he served as a business developer, and brings extensive experience in fund administration, risk control, regulatory compliance, and reporting. He previously served as Head of Fund Operations at Celina Fonder, among other roles across the industry. “We also have the pleasure of simultaneously welcoming Oscar as the new COO,” comments Roos. “Oscar’s drive and background in data-driven fund administration and regulatory issues will come in very handy now that Origo takes the next step.”