Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Two Frenchmen, Alexis Dubois and Victor Clausen Brassart, are turning some heads in the Nordic hedge fund industry. Drawing on extensive experience in quantitative strategies and cross-asset derivatives at leading investment banks like Morgan Stanley, the young duo is preparing to launch a macro systematic hedge fund. The chosen stage? Copenhagen, the fixed-income-dominated capital of Denmark. Their venture, Hafnium Investment, employs four independent macro systematic strategies to capture alpha from time-varying risk premia, promising to bring fresh diversity to the Nordic hedge fund space.
Alexis Dubois and Victor Clausen Brassart, who first crossed paths at Morgan Stanley seven years ago, bring a wealth of complementary expertise to the table. Victor managed multi-billion-dollar quantitative strategy portfolios, gaining unique insights by replicating, trading, and tailoring algorithms and solutions for pension funds and hedge funds at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. Alexis, with a background at Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, specialized in complex cross-asset derivatives, delivering tailored client solutions and automating complex derivatives workflow. Their combined expertise inspired the creation of Hafnium Investment, a multi-strategy quantitative macro hedge fund based in Denmark.
“The inspiration behind launching Hafnium was driven by the lack of alternative investment options and a desire to apply our extensive experience in quantitative strategies to create a unique offering.”
Alexis Dubois
“The inspiration behind launching Hafnium was driven by the lack of alternative investment options and a desire to apply our extensive experience in quantitative strategies to create a unique offering,” explains Alexis Dubois (pictured right), CEO of the asset manager behind Hafnium Investment. “Together, we realized the potential of blending technology, market expertise, and a quantitative framework to create a unique, scalable investment strategy,” he adds. “This collaboration enabled us to design strategies with a deep understanding of market dynamics, rigorous risk management, and cutting-edge technological innovation, which have become the cornerstone of Hafnium Investment.” Together, the duo aims to bring global macro strategies to a region that has traditionally been underserved in this space.
Four Independent Models
Hafnium Investment, recently licensed as an alternative investment fund by the Danish financial regulator and set to launch in early 2025, employs four independent models – Equity Volatility, FX, Rates, and Commodities – to generate uncorrelated, risk-adjusted returns. “Our strategy revolves around four independent quantitative models, each designed to extract alpha from distinct risk premia across major asset classes,” explains Victor Clausen Brassart (pictured left), CIO of Hafnium Investment. “These models ensure a well-diversified and decorrelated portfolio that adapts to various market conditions.”
“Our strategy revolves around four independent quantitative models, each designed to extract alpha from distinct risk premia across major asset classes.”
Victor Clausen Brassart
Alexis highlights that his colleague’s career provided him with the rare opportunity to trade and dissect virtually every existing quantitative investment strategy. This in-depth exposure enabled him to address crucial questions: When do these strategies thrive? When do they underperform? What drives their success, and how can they function effectively – either independently or in combination? “Our approach was never about reinventing the wheel,” says Alexis. “Instead, we leveraged time-tested risk premia strategies that have consistently delivered results across asset classes. For each asset class – FX, Commodities, Volatility in Equity Indices, and Rates – we began with foundational, proven strategies and then applied our proprietary enhancements to refine and optimize them.”
“Our approach was never about reinventing the wheel. Instead, we leveraged time-tested risk premia strategies that have consistently delivered results across asset classes.”
Alexis Dubois
The Volatility model targets long/short opportunities in equity index options, capitalizing on the embedded premia between implied and realized volatility. “Through proprietary signals and variance swap replication, we maintain a hedged, non-directional approach that dynamically adjusts to market sentiment and structural anomalies,” explains Victor. The FX model, meanwhile, combines FX carry risk premia with advanced signals for statistical arbitrage. “It uses alternative data, nowcasting techniques, and machine learning to generate optimized currency positions in emerging markets,” he continues.
The third model focuses on macro momentum in Rates. “Our trend-following strategy identifies persistent macroeconomic events and subsequent trends in G10 rates futures,” says Victor. The fourth and final model targets inefficiencies in liquid commodity futures markets, spanning energy, agriculture, and metals. “It takes advantage of price-insensitive flows, storage dislocations, and behavioral biases while avoiding directional investments.”
“By ensuring that our strategies are structurally independent, we mitigate risks and unlock the potential for stable performance, regardless of market conditions.”
Alexis Dubois
Alexis Dubois highlights that strict decorrelation is a cornerstone of Hafnium Investment’s approach. “By ensuring zero correlation between the strategies and equal weighting in terms of volatility, the portfolio achieves balance and resilience,” he notes. Each strategy targets distinct risk premia and responds differently to various market regimes, supporting robust performance under diverse conditions, according to Dubois. “Each operates in distinct regions, currencies, and payoff structures. True decorrelation is not merely desirable but essential for delivering sustainable, long-term returns,” says Alexis. “By ensuring that our strategies are structurally independent, we mitigate risks and unlock the potential for stable performance, regardless of market conditions.”
Objectives and Competition
Many macro multi-strategy or multi-manager hedge funds operate their strategies in isolation, with little to no visibility into the activities of other strategies or managers within the same fund. This approach, often touted as a source of decorrelation, is a standard practice in the industry. However, Hafnium Investment takes a radically different approach to multi-strategy investing. “While this compartmentalized approach can foster autonomy, it frequently leads to significant drawbacks, such as improper risk assessment, suboptimal risk sizing, and missed opportunities for synergy,” argues Alexis. “At the core of our philosophy is a fundamental departure from this siloed model.”
The duo seeks to maintain full visibility and control over every strategy in their portfolio. “Each is designed and managed with a meticulous focus on its correlation – or lack thereof – with the others,” explains Alexis. “This deliberate and daily monitoring ensures that no strategy inadvertently amplifies risks elsewhere in the framework,” he continues. By actively managing the interactions between strategies, Hafnium seeks to avoid blind spots and unintended overlaps that can arise in more fragmented operations. “Our active, cross-strategy oversight is what sets us apart. It allows us to combine the strengths of individual strategies while preserving the true decorrelation necessary for consistent success.”
“Our active, cross-strategy oversight is what sets us apart. It allows us to combine the strengths of individual strategies while preserving the true decorrelation necessary for consistent success.”
Alexis Dubois
A key strength of Hafnium’s strategy is its inverse volatility weighting, according to Alexis. “This design ensures that to register a negative performance, at least two out of the four independent strategies would need to underperform simultaneously,” he explains. Hafnium Investment is designed to complement Nordic institutional portfolios by offering a highly resilient, decorrelated alternative. “This structural resilience, combined with the diversification across asset classes, makes Hafnium a valuable tool for institutions seeking to enhance risk-adjusted returns and reduce portfolio concentration risk,” concludes Alexis Dubois.
